We present anatomical imaging techniques and measurements that are useful additions to the existing morphological toolbox for the identification of seven coastal grasses and one rush. Our method is simple and inexpensive and requires the removal of only one leaf, which prevents removal of plants from their habitats. This method can also be used in seasons when reproductive structures (important for current morphological ID efforts) are not present. We find significant quantitative differences in leaf width, adaxial to abaxial ratios (ADAB ratio, which we introduce as a new parameter), vascular bundle cross-sectional areas, and interveinal distances, as well as providing images for qualitative analysis of these plants' anatomies; including differences in bundle sheath structures, fiber distributions, epidermal and cuticular properties, and chloroplast positioning.

We evaluated an assemblage of 235 plant fossil specimens from the well-known Middle Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek locality accessioned into the Paleontology Collections of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh). The specimens are preserved as siderite nodules, common to the Mazon Creek biota. All but three of the specimens were donated by Mr. George Oliver, and were found at a quarry near Joliet in Will County, Illinois. The collection includes pteridosperms, pteridophytes, lycophytes, equisetophytes, cordaites, and specimens of unknown affinities, and includes relatively rare specimens of Codonotheca caudua and Cordaianthus ovata. Forty-four previously unidentified specimens were identified to genus or species. Sixty specimens were previously misidentified and corrections were made. This is a small but noteworthy collection that increases paleobotanical material available for researchers to access.

Phlox pilosa ssp. sangamonensis is a state-endangered and narrowly endemic taxon only found in Champaign and Piatt counties, Illinois. Here, we present evidence of natural hybridization between Phlox divaricata ssp. laphamii and P. pilosa ssp. sangamonensis. In May 2018, we collected a putative F₁ hybrid of the two taxa in a sympatric population. We screened six microsatellites developed for North American Phlox species and measured eight morphological traits to test the specimen's hybrid status. The microsatellite data were analyzed using a Bayesian clustering technique to infer genetic groupings. The eight morphological characteristics were analyzed using principal components analysis. We also measured the flowering phenology of P. divaricata ssp. laphamii and P. pilosa ssp. sangamonensis to assess the possibility of cross pollination. Bayesian clustering and the principal components analysis indicated that the sample was a Phlox divaricata ssp. laphamii × Phlox pilosa ssp. sangamonensis. There was modest phenological overlap between the two taxa, suggesting that gene flow is possible—though likely uncommon—in sympatric populations. We then discuss the effects of this hybridization on P. pilosa ssp. sangamonensis conservation and genetic composition.

Herbarium specimen digitization and transcription initiatives have led to revitalized use of plant collections making them more accessible than ever. Most digitization is done by producing 2D images of herbarium sheets; however, herbaria also include 3D collections such as fungi, mosses, and dry fruits, among others. Here we present a 3D digitization protocol developed at the Marshall University Herbarium (MUHW) using free photogrammetry software. We tested four freely available software applications, Meshroom, 3DF Zephyr Free, ColMap, and Regard3D on five types of 3D specimens, fungi, a moss, a lichen, a pinecone, and a compound fruit. Using 40–50 images and equipment already available in our herbarium such as a camera and light box, we produced 3D images in less than one hour per specimen. From the four applications tested, 3DF Zephyr Free gave the best results across the different specimens. Specimens that are bilaterally symmetrical or asymmetrical, such as fungi and compound fruit yielded detailed 3D images. Radially symmetrical specimens or specimens with repetitive patterns, such as the pinecone, moss, and lichen, resulted in poor or incomplete 3D images, which indicates that this workflow may be best suited for objects with differentiation in surfaces. Our workflow provides an effective, low-cost method of producing 3D images of 3D herbarium specimens that can be easily implemented in other herbaria.

Chevreulia acuminata is reported for the first time in North Carolina. The species appears to have been in the state since at least 2021.

Twenty-four growing seasons after installation, five regeneration cuts and one understory control treatment were remeasured to assess long-term effects on stand composition and development in the Appalachian forest region of southwest Virginia. The six experimental treatments included understory control, group selection, high-retention shelterwood, low-retention shelterwood, leave-tree, and clearcut, plus a non-harvested control. Two-hectares of each treatment were replicated on three oak (Quercus) dominated sites in the ridge and valley physiographic province of southwestern Virginia in 1994 and 1995. Overall, results indicated the high-retention shelterwood treatment favored oak species and partially suppressed yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). Among the overstory removal treatments, the clearcut treatments accrued the greatest aboveground biomass, partially due to the greater yellow poplar component. The clearcut also contained a relatively high importance values for oak species, but the prevalence of faster growing species within the clearcut suggests that intermediate treatments, such as crop tree release, could be necessary to retain the oak component. Overall, the high-retention shelterwood represents a balance to passively control post-harvest composition to favor an oak component while accruing biomass without intermediate oak release treatments.

Kalmia latifolia, the mountain laurel, contains dangerous diterpene grayanotoxins, which make all parts of the plant toxic. Human consumption of honey made from Kalmia and Rhododendron nectar, so-called ‘mad honey,’ can result in serious poisoning. Despite this, homeopathic Kalmia latifolia tincture is available for purchase online. Here, we test a concentrated Kalmia latifolia tincture produced in the laboratory against a commercially available homeopathic Kalmia latifolia tincture. To evaluate outcomes, we treat Daphnia magna with these tinctures and evaluate changes to mortality, heart rate, and the differential expression of several genes related to detoxification and stress response. We find that the concentrated Kalmia latifolia tincture contains cytotoxic compounds beyond the ethanol solvent alone. This is evidenced by lower heart rates in daphnids 24 hours after treatment, and by the upregulation of Hsp90, a stress response gene, when compared to other treatment types. However, ethanol alone was found to cause higher mortality at both 24 and 48 hours than either Kalmia-based tincture. We believe, despite poor solubility, some level of the hydrophobic grayanotoxins dissolve in the ethanol solvent used to create the distillation and are present in the final concentrated tincture making the final tincture likely far less potent than one performed using a strong organic solvent. Ethanol is a poor solvent for grayanotoxins and the final level of cytotoxins in the concentrated tincture is likely quite low. We find relatively little evidence for acute cytotoxicity in daphnids exposed to a concentrated Kalmia latifolia tincture.

A range wide status survey of the perforate reindeer lichen (Cladonia perforata) was performed by revisiting known extant and historical sites and searching for new populations. Size of each population was determined and the extent of invasive plant species in the vicinity of Cladonia perforata was also documented. The data was used to update the global and state NatureServe conservation status rank of this species and provide the current information to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Department of Defense (DOD), state agencies, and land managers. Twenty-five existing element occurrence records were updated, and seven new element occurrences were documented. Based on several rank factors such as area of occupancy, number of both viable and protected populations, and threats, the rank of Cladonia perforata was recalculated to G2G3/S2S3 from the previous rank of G1/S1 (NatureServe 2022). This change in rank indicates a reduction in conservation status from Critically Imperiled to Imperiled/Vulnerable.

Compound forest disturbances may alter forest successional and developmental pathways differently than a single disturbance alone; however, this is not a certainty. We investigated effects of post-wind disturbance salvage logging, a common compound disturbance sequence, in an upland Quercus stand on the Alabama Cumberland Plateau 12 years after the events. We re-established 60 sample plots in undisturbed, wind-disturbed, and compound-disturbed (wind-disturbed and salvage logged) neighborhoods of a single stand that was first inventoried two years post-disturbance. Sapling density was greatest and seedling density was lowest on compound-disturbed plots. Over the 12 growing seasons since the wind disturbance and salvage logging events, the woody plant assemblages became more diverse and heterogeneous within disturbance categories. On wind-disturbed and compound-disturbed plots, we suspect this was related to reorganization of the woody plant assemblage and arrival of new propagules. On undisturbed plots, we speculated this pattern resulted from gap-scale disturbance processes as the Quercus alba stand approached the complex stage of development. In 2012, the wind-disturbed and compound-disturbed woody plant assemblages were distinct in ordination space, but by 2022 the wind-disturbed and compound-disturbed plots were no longer statistically distinct in ordination space. However, the sapling layer of compound-disturbed neighborhoods was heavily dominated by Acer rubrum and we hypothesized that the wind disturbance event accelerated succession of Quercus-to-Acer and that the salvage operation accelerated the composition shift.

The contributions of Lena Clemmons Artz (1891–1976) to southeastern U.S. botany remain poorly known today. Recently, an archive of her professional papers was discovered in the Lord Fairfax Community College herbarium in Virginia. This publication provides an overview of her biography, botanical education, and scientific research with reference to this archive and other historical documents and serves as a memorial of her professional accomplishments. The majority of her numbered exsiccatae were located, digitized and publicly disseminated via Bionomia to aid biographical research. Artz trained as a botanist in mid-life at the College of William & Mary and the George Washington University, yet her later work occurred without the direct support of a research institution. In total, she wrote 42 publications about the natural history of Virginia, over half of which were produced while she was employed as a high school biology teacher. Ninety percent of her exsiccatae (n=2,245), which were collected between 1922–1971, document the vascular plants of the Massanutten Mountains in the Ridge & Valley physiographic province of northwestern Virginia, where she was raised and to which she retired after her teaching career. Her contributions to southeastern U.S. botany include her detailed documentation of the Virginia flora prior to anthropogenic changes of the 20th and 21st centuries, her foundational papers about the floristics of Central Appalachian shale barrens, and her discovery of the Smokehole Bergamot, Monarda brevis. Curatorial improvements and botanical discoveries made during this investigation highlight the importance of biographical data for advancing collections-based research.