Phytophilia Blog

2022 Research & Conservation Intern Experiences

In the Summer of 2022, Ulysses Oles, Lezlie Dominguez, Basil Gaffney, and Sarah Butler were Research/Collections interns & Avery Craddock was a Conservation intern. Below

What Is This Thing? Smooth Ruellia and Why Some Plants Preferred Closed Marriages

Botanists and horticulturists love a challenge. That’s why this year we’re introducing a new feature in the newsletter: What Is This Thing? This month, Martha L. of Fort Worth asks us to identify a plant with small flowers than never open. The answer tells a fascinating story about the reproductive strategies of plants–and why some prefer closed to open marriages.

Botanical Art = Botanical Science

The history of civilization can be told through pictures of plants. The roots of botanical art and the science of botany began in ancient Greek and Roman times, depicting plants as a means of understanding and recording their potential uses.

Texas Star Mushroom now State Mushroom of Texas

The rare and rather unique, star-shaped fungus with the Latin name Chorioactis geaster received official designation this week by the Texas Legislature passing the House and Senate

Sean Lahmeyer of the Huntington Herbarium

As part of the Library’s Collection Lens series, BRIT Librarian, Brandy Watts, interviews Sean Lahmeyer of the Huntington Herbarium who discusses the history of the collection and its growth through the years.

Megan O’Connell on Texas Prairie Ecosystems

As part of BRIT Library’s Botany Stories series, BRIT’s new Conservation Research Botanist, Megan O’Connell, discusses her interest in Texas prairie ecosystems and Texas Blackland Prairie.

Barbara Thiers: Funding Natural History Collections & the Extended Specimen Network

BRIT Librarian, Brandy Watts, interviews Barbara Thiers, Director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden, who she discusses funding natural history collections and the Extended Specimen Network.

Pondering Poaceae Across Texas

Dan Caudle discusses his interest in grasses and grasslands, giving particular attention to his work with Meredith Ellis, a young rancher and committed conservationist in Cooke County, Texas.

National Old Stuff Day

In honor of National Old Stuff Day (March 2nd), the BRIT Herbarium wants to highlight one of our more interesting specimens from Oklahoma. Although not

John Atwood: The Bryophytes of the Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium & Library

BRIT Librarian, Brandy Watts, interviews John Atwood, Research Specialist at the Missouri Botanical Garden, who discusses the Herbarium’s Bryophyte Collection and the Peter H. Raven Bryology Library.

Susan Fraser of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library

Former Vice President and Director of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library at the New York Botanical Garden reflects on her tenure with the Library.

Gina Douglas of The Linnean Society of London

Gina Douglas, Honorary Archivist of the Linnean Society of London, discusses her many fruitful and enriching years with the Linnean Society and the wonderful collections that she has worked with during her tenure.

Searching for Mertensia through the Mountains of China

From the mountains of China, comes a botany story in search of Mertensia (Bluebells), of the Boraginaceae family. Through the summer of 2010, botanist Mare Nazaire Ph.D. of California Botanic Garden (RSA) conducted numerous field collecting trips throughout the alpine regions of China.

Learning to “Bee” a Pollinator Supporter at the Pecan Creek Pollinative Prairie

This following is part of the “Where Are They Now?”series featuring guest posts from former interns, volunteers, staff, and friends of BRIT. This month’s post

Grace Lloyd Bascopé: Flora of Belize & Maya Research Project

Resident Research Associate, Grace Lloyd Bascopé, talks about her summers in Blue Creek, Belize working on Flora of Belize & Maya Research Project.

Collecting Collections; Tiana F. Rehman, BRIT Herbarium

Tiana F. Rehman, BRIT’s Herbarium Collections Manager, tells us about the many collections that compose the Herbarium. This is the first interview of the Library’s new Collection Lens series, which highlights collection managers from around the world across botanical libraries and herbaria as collections move into the future.

A Library Encircling A Herbarium

Imagine a herbarium of just under 400,000 plant specimens in cabinets with a corresponding botany library of 40,000 books lining the periphery, along the walls of the herbarium collection accessible to researchers working in the collection. This was the design of the SMU Herbarium and Library housed on the SMU campus before moving to BRIT in 1991.