I learned of the event a week or so ago through Twitter, and it promised I would be able to "learn more about the Garden's botanists and tour the Monsanto Research Center, including the library and herbarium." ("Monsanto" is a dirty word with many gardeners, but the huge amount of money that they've contributed to MBG over the years can't be disputed, and is A Good Thing.)
So what did I see on this Saturday afternoon self-guided tour?
Displays on various MGB research projects around the world:
The history of The Garden itself:
Lots of plant specimens from the herbarium...
...some exceptionally old:
A glimpse at the science behind species ID:
An explanation of how samples are prepared and mounted...
...then stored:
A look at the research library, including the very old books:
The book restoration department:
And the document scanning process:
(which doesn't really lend itself to interesting photos. You can see the results though at tropicos.org)
Lots of really interesting stuff coming in this week's posts!
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Wow! What a dream job that must be working in the archives of a botanical garden. Its eerie to think of plants from 1832.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting the great photos
Maywyn: much more to come! The weird thing is that a plant sample from the 1800's looks pretty much the same as a sample from 2 years ago. Once they're dried and brown, you can't really tell how old they are!
ReplyDeleteFascinating stuff. I can't wait to see more.
ReplyDeleteBG archives always looks so fascinating, with a lot of things looking so delicate that it seems they wouldn't last but they do!
ReplyDeleteLucky you! Look forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great collection they have! Do they do this open house annually?
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