State Botanical Garden Research Articles

Evaluation of Select Monarda Taxa in Montane and Piedmont Regions of Georgia: I. Horticultural Performance and Disease Tolerance

We evaluated several horticultural cultivars and species of Monarda, a genus native to North America with a center of diversity in the Southeast and advertised as beneficial to wildlife, to assess landscape performance with respect to vegetative habit, flower production, and disease tolerance in Georgia Piedmont and montane habitats. We established two experimental sites: the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens (USDA Zone 8b) and the Georgia Mountain Education and Research Center in Blairsville (USDA Zone 7b). We then tracked plant performance over 2 years after establishment. Our study included 10 samples of Monarda, representing five cultivars and four species. Estimated height and width at flowering showed M. bradburiana, M. Sugar Buzz® Grape Gumball, and the M. punctata ecotypes were smaller than other tested taxa. M. fistulosa had the most flowers at the Blairsville site and equal flowering with M. punctata at the Athens location, but most taxa flowered for 2 to 3 months with ∼100 flowering stems per stand. All samples were susceptible to powdery mildew, but M. bradburiana displayed the highest level of tolerance. Otherwise, cultivars tended to be more tolerant to powdery mildew than species. The observed variations in horticultural characteristics and performance highlight the high value of this genus for Georgia landscapes.

First report of Bot Canker (Diplodia corticola) in Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) in Tennessee.

Diplodia corticola is a fungal pathogen contributing to oak (Quercus spp.) decline in the Mediterranean and US (Félix et al., 2017; Ferreira et al., 2021). In 2021, this pathogen was detected in Tennessee (TN) causing branch dieback in Q. alba (Onufrak et al., 2022). In September 2021, a matured pin oak (Q. palustris) with wilted leaves and elongated branch cankers was observed in the State Botanical Garden of Tennessee-Knoxville (TN, US). Small sections of the phloem were sampled from canker margins of a symptomatic branch using a sterile scalpel, surface sterilized, and plated onto potato dextrose agar amended with antibiotics (PDA++) (Gazis et al. 2018). Three days later, a fungal isolate resembling D. corticola was cultured on ½ PDA. Diplodia corticola is characterized on half-strength PDA by fast growth, irregular margins, and dense white mycelium that turns dark, grayish as the mycelium matures (Úrbez-Torres et al., 2010; Alves et al., 2004). Total genomic DNA was extracted from this isolate following Gazis et al. (2018), and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), large ribosomal subunit (LSU), and transcription elongation factor 1-α (ef1-α) were amplified (Ferreira et al. 2021). Resulting PCR products were sequenced and assembled into consensus sequences using Unipro UGENE v. 44.0 (Okonechnikov et al., 2012). Each consensus sequence identity was determined using BLAST on the NCBI nucleotide database, restricted to type material. The ITS (accession OQ189888), ef-1α (accession OQ201608), and LSU (accession OQ189887) sequences had a 99.6% (accession KF766156.1), 98.6% (accession XM_020275852.1), and 100% (accession KF766323.1) identity match with D. corticola type culture CBS112549, respectively. To complete Koch's postulates and assess potential pathogenicity on economically and ecologically relevant oaks, 10 pin (Q. palustris; caliper 15.6 ± 2.0 mm), 10 overcup (Q. lyrata; caliper 15.1 ± 2.4 mm), and 10 sawtooth (Q. acutissima; 16.1 ± 2.1 mm) oaks were acclimated in the greenhouse for 1 week prior to the experiment. Five trees of each species were then randomly inoculated at 30 cm above the soil line with a 3 mm diameter plug of D. corticola (grown for 10 days on PDA; Sitz et al. 2017). To serve as a control, the remaining 5 trees for each species received a 3 mm diameter PDA plug. Fifteen days post-inoculation, seepage was observed in D. corticola-inoculated pin (5/5 trees), overcup (4/5 trees), and sawtooth (4/5 trees) oaks. No seepage from wound sites was noted in control trees. Cankers were exposed, photographed, and then measured using ImageJ (Rasband, 2012). Using a sterile scalpel, four wood chips were excised from canker margins and plated onto PDA++. We recovered D. corticola from symptomatic inoculated pin (5/5 trees), overcup (4/5 trees), and sawtooth (4/5 trees) oaks and confirmed species identity by extracting DNA and amplifying the ITS, ef-1α, and LSU regions as described above (Gazis et al., 2018; Ferreira et al., 2021). The resulting consensus sequences matched the D. corticola type culture (CBS112549) ITS (99.0%-99.8% identity), ef-1α (91.0%-99.1% identity), and LSU (96.9%-100% identity) barcoding regions. Cankers were significantly larger in D. corticola-inoculated pin (4.7 ± 1.5 cm2; P = 0.003), overcup (6.8 ± 2.9 cm2; P = 0.009), and sawtooth (5.1 ± 1.3 cm2; P = 0.001) oaks in comparison to the control trees from these groups. Based on current reports, this is the first record of D. corticola causing dieback in pin oak (Q. palustris) in TN.

DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY LISTS OF WOOD PLANTS FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE CONDITIONS OF NORTH KAZAKHSTAN

Nowadays, in North Kazakhstan and in whole steppe ecosystems of the Republic there have been noresearch institutions developing theoretical and applied issues of introduction and green building in the region, firstof all, target institutions for the conservation and sustainable use of the flora of the region.To solve these problems, a state botanical garden was created in the city of Nur-Sultan. During the formation ofthe botanical garden, the primary task was to develop primary lists of woody plants for introduction tests, which willcreate a plan of dendrological expositions representing various types of communities and geographical regions, aswell as to recommend an assortment of woody plants for landscaping the capital of our country and the region inoverall.The system-arealogical approach and the interpolation forecasting were used to develop promising lists ofwoody plants. Introduction procedures were carried out according to traditional techniques. As a result of the research, a perspective list of woody plants of Kazakhstan’s Red Book was developed for introduction tests, numbering19 species, including 10 species attracted from East Kazakhstan and 4 species from the southeast of the country.The analysis allows us to state that the communities of Boreal (Northern) Kazakhstan - birch, aspen, pine pegs,steppe vegetation, and partially forest ecosystems of Altai - will be potentially viable in the open ground of thebotanical garden. According to this, the natural vegetation of Kazakhstan can be represented in the Nur-Sultan Botanical Garden with the following expositions: «Dubnyakswith a birch of Western Kazakhstan», «Woody plants of theKazakhstan’s Altai», «Kolka of Kazakhstan».Based on the system-arealogical approach to introduce forecasting cold tolerance of woody plants forintroduction tests in the capital, 345 species of Eurasian woody plants from 25 genera are recommended and dividedinto three groups of introduction prospects: A - compliance with the conditions of the Nur-Sultan natural range of thespecies; B - compliance with the conditions of the city of Nur-Sultan of the species introduction range; B - potentialcompliance of the species with the conditions of the city of Nur-Sultan by the mechanism of its resettlement. Theintroduction of plants from each of these groups will require specific approaches to mobilize plant reproductionmaterial.The Botanical garden created in the city of Nur-Sultan will represent a man-made specially protected naturalarea, for the creation of which should be taken into account “pros and cons” of its location.

Botanic Gardens Are Important Contributors to Crop Wild Relative Preservation

ABSTRACTHumans rely on crop wild relatives (CWRs) for sustainable agriculture and food security through augmentation of crop yield, disease resistance, and climatic tolerance, among other important traits. Many CWRs are underrepresented in crop gene banks. With at least one‐third of known plant species maintained in botanic garden living collections, the botanic garden community serves as an important global ex situ network that supports plant conservation and research around the world. We sought to characterize botanic garden holdings of CWRs and demonstrate capacity for cross‐sector coordination in support of CWR ex situ preservation. To do this, Botanic Gardens Conservation International US (BGCI‐US), in partnership with the United States Botanic Garden, used the BGCI PlantSearch database to conduct an ex situ survey of CWRs maintained in botanic gardens. We found 28.6% of global priority CWR taxa and 75.4% of US priority CWR taxa represented in botanic gardens. By comparing with priority CWR holdings in crop gene banks, botanic gardens maintain 22 global priority and 108 US priority CWR taxa not reported by crop gene banks. A combination of crop gene bank and botanic garden holdings results in broader taxonomic coverage. Looking more closely at 10 US priority CWR species, findings demonstrate that botanic gardens have the capacity to fill critical CWRs gaps in crop gene bank collections, and botanic gardens maintain samples from wild populations not represented in crop gene banks. We call on the crop gene bank and botanic garden communities to use an integrated collections development approach for further coordination, complementarity, and duplication of ex situ CWR plant genetic resources.

Ex Situ Propagation of Philippine Rafflesia in the United States: Challenges and Prospects

The large-flowered parasitic genus Rafflesia R.Br. (Rafflesiaceae) has long fascinated naturalists and scientists and is an iconic symbol for plant conservation. Techniques to effectively propagate members of the genus outside of their natural habitat are sparse, and grafting infected Tetrastigma K.Schum.(Vitaceae) host plants has previously been reported as a successful strategy for ex situ conservation of Rafflesia. Here we report our attempts in the United States to propagate host cuttings infected with Rafflesia speciosa Barcelona & Fernando and R. lagascae Blanco collectedfrom the Philippines, as well as uninfected host material. We also describe efforts to germinate R. speciosa seeds in vitro using various plant growth regulators (PGRs). After rooting, infected host cuttings survived for a maximum of 11 months, but did not produce shoots. However, an uninfected cutting of T. cf. magnum grafted onto an established Malaysian species of Tetrastigma in June 2017 has succeeded in the commencement of new growth. Three propagules of a second potential host, T. harmandii Planch., have also been vigorously growing at the United States Botanic Garden since June 2017. However, Rafflesia seeds did not germinate with the application of PGRs, even though the seeds were viable according to tetrazolium (TZ) testing.These ex situ propagation attempts have revealed challenges in propagating these species outside of their native ranges, but our incremental success in rooting infected Tetrastigma, as well as grafting interspecific Tetrastigma species, bodes well for further advances. With Philippine host species, T. harmandii and T. cf. magnum in cultivation, we can begin using these specimens for future experimentation involving grafting of infected material and Rafflesia seed inoculation trials.Furthermore, we describe new avenues of propagation techniques for Rafflesia as practised by Marius Gabin, one of the owners of the Vivian Rafflesia garden, which contains a natural Rafflesia forest habitat at Poring Springs, Sabah, Malaysia. Gabin openly shared his successes in artificially inoculating Rafflesia seeds into a mature Tetrastigma vine. Gabin’s willingness to share his experience highlights the importance of collaborating with practitioners who have developed local knowledge of Rafflesia horticulture and conservation.

The United States Botanic Garden in Washington, DC

The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) was initially established in 1820, though a tumultuous beginning did not allow it to become a permanent institution until 1850. Nevertheless, it is one of the oldest botanic gardens in North America and one of the most visited. This article provides a brief history of the USBG and an overview of its operations and collections. With its centrallocation in a major US metropolitan region and free entry to visitors, the USBG has a strong focus on visitor services, experience and education. Approaching its 200th year, the Garden is well poised to play a leading role in exciting the American public about the importance of plants to humankind.

From Classic to Classy: Changing Fashions in Street Names

Street names in Athens, Georgia, are of two kinds: older, traditional, central, commemorative, directional = “classic,” and newer, innovative, suburban, evocative, given by real-estate developers for their commercial appeal = “classy.” The city of Athens is the site of the University of Georgia, the State Botanical Garden, the Georgia Museum of Art, and notably a double-barreled cannon, which was supposed to fire two chain-linked cannon balls simultaneously, but which succeeded on its trial shot only in demolishing a fence and killing a cow. The city was consolidated with Clarke County, yielding a population of some 120,000.

Comparative studies of chemical composition of particulate matter between sea and remote location of eastern part of India

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) was collected by using high volume samplers (HVS) from two different locations: Bay of Bengal (BoB) and State Botanical Garden (SBG) situated in the eastern part of India. The SPM samples were collected on Whatman No.41 filter papers. The samples were simultaneously collected daily from both the locations during March 17–April 1, 2006. The average SPM concentration over BoB and SBG was found to be 39.05 and 78.14 μg/m 3 respectively. Na + and SO 4 2− were the most dominant water-soluble constituents over BoB and SBG respectively. The ratio of SO 4 2−/NO 3 − concentrations in both the cases was observed to be > 1 indicating that the contribution of atmospheric acidity was more due to SO 4 2− than NO 3 −. From intra-correlation analysis it is found that at both the locations, Na + and Cl − were well correlated while SO 4 2−-Ca 2+ and SO 4 2−-NH 4 + were poorly correlated indicating the later ion pairs to be derived from different sources. The Windrose diagrams for wind speed and direction show that for SBG, the wind blew from the SE and SW directions and brought in pollutants from soil and anthropogenic sources. In case of BoB, the wind parcels mostly were blown from the land mass (EES direction) showing the influence of anthropogenic pollutants on the marine aerosols. All the variables can be classified into three factors using principal component analyses technique. It explained 85% of total variance.

A botanic garden for the nation: the United States Botanic Garden

A botanic garden for the nation: the United States Botanic Garden

Resolution of Respect

Resolution of Respect

Integrated Pest Management at the United States Botanic Garden

Integrated Pest Management at the United States Botanic Garden

Chemical composition of rainwater and dustfall at Bhubaneswar in the east coast of India

Chemical composition of rainwater and dustfall was studied in two different stations of Bhubaneswar, located in the east coast of India. A wet-only and a bulk collector were placed at Regional Research Laboratory (RRL), a suburban area, during 1995–1997 and in the State Botanical Garden (SBG), a rural forest area, during 1997–1998. Of the rain events, 93% recorded alkaline pH (>5.6) at RRL while at SBG, 57% of the rain events were alkaline and the rest were acidic. Non-sea salt (nss) Ca 2+ and NH 3 were the primary neutralizing agents of rainwater acidity at both the locations. Low concentrations of alkaline constituents in the dustfall are an important finding in this study under Indian conditions. The Cl − /Na + ratio in rainwater at RRL was same as the seawater ratio (1.167) which indicates that sea salt contribution is local to RRL. It may be of indirect marine origin and resuspended locally. Rainwater samples were enriched with nss SO 4 2− , nss Ca 2+ and nss Mg 2+ at both the sites. Most of the nss SO 4 2− and NO 3 − were of anthropogenic origin, while a part of those might be soil derived.

Building Environmental Literacy through Participation in GIS and Multimedia Assisted Field Research

A Learning Support System (LSS) that emphasizes experiential research in natural environments using the cutting-edge technologies of GIS and multimedia has been developed for teaching environmental literacy to undergraduate students at the University of Georgia. Computers are used as cognitive tools to create a context in which students become interns in an ecological research center. Students are instructed to conduct research in the form of two field laboratories (the stream and forest laboratories). They accomplish their tasks by collecting data in the field (the State Botanical Garden of Georgia near the campus). They enter the data in the Learning Support System (LSS), and are guided to formulate hypotheses relating to stream water quality and human impact on forest succession for testing. Students also interact with the Environmental Research Support Site (ERSS) within the LSS for explanations to their findings. A specially customized Arc View GIS program within the LSS provides a tool to students for spatial analysis in the case of the forest laboratory. Students and faculty evaluations as well as final examination results confirmed the receptiveness of students to the LSS approach and its effectiveness in the learning of environmental literacy.

An Assessment of the Accuracy of Triangulated Irregular Networks (TINs) and Lattices in ARC/INFO

This paper evaluates the accuracy of triangulated irregular networks (TINs) and lattices in ARC/INFO. The results of an empirical comparison of the two models over two selected topographic sites are presented. Both vector and raster data were used to build the models. Three pairs of models were constructed based on 1,600, 4,000, and 9,000 sample points for the study area of the State Botanical Garden of Athens, Georgia, and 400, 800, and 1,600 sample points for the study area of Lake Lucerne of Wisconsin. The two models were assessed based on the same number of input sample points. Overall, TINs performed better than lattices. The quality of lattices decreased more dramatically than that of TINs when the number of sample points used for the construction of the models decreased. With an increase in the number of sample points used, the difference in performance between the two models decreased. The results of the evaluation directly depend on the comparison criteria and modeling algorithms. The evaluation is slightly sensitive to test indices used and the distribution of test points. The spatial pattern of residuals on spot heights was quite different from that on randomly selected test points. Users should choose models carefully based on the purpose of their application, the accuracy required, and the computer resources that are available.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia: A Living Laboratory for Student Education

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia serves as an important academic resource for the University of Georgia by supporting interdisciplinary learning experiences in fields including botany, horticulture, environmental design, ecology, anthropology, geography, instructional technology, science education, entomology, forestry, and art. Field trips, independent study, internships, work-study and other botanical garden experiences strengthen and support the university's teaching, research and public service/outreach missions.

Report from the NSF workshop on workflow and process automation in information systems

An interdisciplinary research community needs to address challenging issues raised by applying workflow management technology in information systems. This conclusion results from the NSF workshop on Workflow and Process Automation in Information Systems which was held at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia during May 8-10, 1996. The workshop brought together active researchers and practitioners from several communities, with significant representation from database and distributed systems, software process and software engineering, and computer supported cooperative work. The presentations given at the workshop are available in the form of an electronic proceedings of this workshop at http://lsdis.cs.uga.edu/activities/). This report is the joint work of selected representatives from the workshop and it documents the results of significant group discussions and exchange of ideas.

Report from the NSF workshop on workflow and process automation in information systems

An interdisciplinary research community needs to address challenging issues raised by applying workflow management technology in information systems. This conclusion results from the NSF workshop on Workflow and Process Automation in Information Systems which was held at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia during May 8-10, 1996. The workshop brought together active researchers and practitioners from several communities, with significant representation from database and distributed systems, software process and software engineering, and computer supported cooperative work. The presentations given at the workshop are available in the form of an electronic proceedings of this workshop at http://lsdis.cs.uga.edu/activities/). This report is the joint work of selected representatives from the workshop and it documents the results of significant group discussions and exchange of ideas.

Review: History of the United States Botanic Garden, 1816-1991, by Karen D. Solit

Review: <i>History of the United States Botanic Garden, 1816-1991</i>, by Karen D. Solit

Promoting the Residential Habitat Garden through Education

As the need to design residential landscapes in an environmentally sensitive manner becomes more apparent, the demand for educational materials and activities that promote the habitat garden is growing. In response to this need, an educational plan, ranging from the publication of a booklet to the implementation of a demonstration garden, has been undertaken. The booklet should serve both the homeowner and the professional designer interested in wildlife-sensitive designs. Horticultural faculty and students are being organized to implement one of my designs on the Clemson Univ. campus to demonstrate the habitat garden concepts found in the booklet. Working with local homeowners by designing and having their yards certified by the National Wildlife Federation as “Backyard Wildlife Habitats” has also served to promote the habitat garden. I am also working with the Dept. of Horticulture and senior citizen volunteers to raise money to build a demonstration garden in the South Carolina State Botanical Garden. The incorporation of written materials, designs, certifications, and demonstration gardens into an educational package has resulted in a community effort to promote the habitat garden.

956 PB 479 A WILDLIFE HABITAT IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA BOTANICALGARDEN

America's rejuvenated interest in environmentalism provides landscape designers an excellent opportunity to integrate natural wildlife habitats within the landscape. Due to urbanization and rapid development, niches for many animals are being destroyed. Too often we rely on our state and national parks to replace what is lost, when we really should begin In our own backyards. In conjunction with the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, the South Carolina State Botanical Garden has initiated a program that will create a Backyard Wildlife Habitat. The purpose of my project is to create a garden with ornamental and native flora to attract local fauna, while educating botanical garden visitors to concepts that they can apply In their own back yards, neighborhoods, schools. and communities. My presentation will outline the goals, methodology, and results of the project. In addition, I will discuss the concepts that make a site a Backyard Wildlife Habitat.