News Releases

In Memoriam - Rogers McVaugh - 1909-2009

Rogers McVaugh, Harley Harris Bartlett Professor of Botany and an internationally renowned authority on Compositae, Myrtaceae, Campanulaceae, woody Rosaceae, and the flora of Mexico, died on September 24, 2009. He was Curator of Vascular Plants at the University of Michigan Herbarium from 1946 until 1979 and Herbarium Director from 1972 until 1976. He remained active in retirement as Research Professor of Botany at the University of North Carolina. In collaboration with his former student William R. Anderson, he published the acclaimed series "Flora Novo-Galiciana," the culmination of his many years of study of the flora of western Mexico. Read more about Rogers McVaugh.

Botanical Artist Karin Douthit

The career of Karin Douthit, botanical artist at the Herbarium since 1969, is featured in an article of the University Record. Many of her beautiful drawings are featured on the Malpighiaceae website. The flower shown here is of Byrsonima kariniana, a species named in her honor. Read the article.


Michael J. Wynne Marine Algae Lecture

Michael J. Wynne, Curator Emeritus (Algae), gave a "Special Invited Lecture" at the 48th annual meetings of the North East Algal Society held on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 18-19 April, 2009.  His presentation, "Marine algae and early explorations in the upper North Pacific and Bering Sea," was based on his review article published in the March, 2009, issue of the journal "Algae." A link to the publication is provided: ALGAE.



William R. Anderson, NEBC 2009 Distinguished Speaker

 Dr. Anderson will present, "Forty Years in the PighPen: Studies of the Malpighiaceae," at the 1044th meeting of the New England Botanical Club, Inc. The lecture will be on April 3rd, 2009, at 6:45 p.m. in the Lecture Hall (room 102), Fairchild Building (Biochemistry), 7 Divinty Avenue, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.


Paul Berry publishes in the journal Systematic Botany
Paul Berry and Benjamin W. van Ee explore the phylogeny and taxonomy of Croton (Euphorbiaceae s.s.) on Jamaica. See the article here.






 William R. Anderson recognized in the journal Systematic Botany

 Thomas F. Daniel and Stephen G. Weller present an excellent biography of Professor Emeritus and Curator Emeritus William R. Anderson in the the journal Systematic Botany. See the article here.






Forest Dynamics Lecture
David Kenfack Postdoctoral fellow presents, "The 50-ha forest dynamics plot of Cameroon." Tuesday March 24, 12:10 PM Room 2009 Museums.





ID Day: mysteries solved

See the Ann Arbor News article and slide show of the 12th annual ID Day at the Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Sunday, Feb. 15. Tony Reznicek was on hand to help identify plants. Photo: Lon Horwedel, The Ann Arbor News.


Dr. Timothy James Arrives

Dr. James joins the Herbarium as an Assistant Fungal Curator and Assistant Professor. Welcome Tim!






Shade coffee benefits more than birds

Here's one more reason to say "shade grown, please" when you order your morning cup of joe. Shade coffee farms, which grow coffee under a canopy of multiple tree species, not only harbor native birds, bats and other beneficial creatures, but also maintain genetic diversity of native tree species and can act as focal points for tropical forest regeneration.

The finding comes from a study published by EEB Ph.D. student Shalene Jha and Professor Christopher Dick in the Dec. 23 issue of the journal Current Biology. Listen for Jha on NPR’s Science Friday on Friday, Dec. 26 beginning at about 3 p.m. (U-M News Service press release) Photo: Jha
Hear NPR's Science Friday podcast

"Living fossil" tree contains genetic imprints of rain forests under climate change

A "living fossil" tree species is helping a University of Michigan researcher understand how tropical forests responded to past climate change and how they may react to global warming in the future. The research appears in the November issue of the journal Evolution.Symphonia globulifera is a widespread tropical tree with a history that goes back some 45 million years in Africa, said Christopher Dick, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who is lead author on the paper. Photo: The distinctive trunk and aerial roots of the tropical tree Symphonia globulifera in a rain forest in Panama. Rolando Pérez, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

U-M News Service press release. 


Anderson Awarded High Honor

William R. Anderson, professor emeritus of botany and curator emeritus of the University of Michigan Herbarium, was presented with the Asa Gray Award at the international Botany 2008 meetings in Vancouver, Canada in July 2008. This is the highest honor bestowed by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists for outstanding contributions to systematic botany. Anderson’s research and collaborative projects are focused on the neotropical plant family Malpighiaceae and on floristics of Latin America.

Species Focus:
Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens


This is one of the most widespread native orchids in North America, and is especially common in the limestone regions of Michigan. The Yellow Lady-slippers form a world-wide complex and their systematics are still somewhat uncertain. Two distinct entities occur in Michigan, one, like this with yellowish sepals that are not strongly twisted and another with purple-brown sepals that are strongly twisted.

photo: A.A. Reznicek