Category: Information

Posted on

Potato seeds or seed potatoes

It’s a curse, knowing (and caring) too much. Last week, we dutifully nibbled a Spanish-language report that seeds from Peru’s Potato Park were on their way to the Bóveda Global de Semillas de Svalbard. The BBC, equally dutifully, seems to have retailed the same story. But hang on. Are those true potato seeds, in which case I’ll just relax and go home? Or are they potato seed tubers, capable of safeguarding actual varieties, rather than merely a diverse sample of potato DNA? The BBC certainly suggests the former, by specifically mentioning one of the varieties by name.

I had always thought that named potato varieties do not breed true from true seed. so if seeds are being stored, then why bang on about varieties? And if it is seed potato tubers, which do preserve variety characteristics, why are they being stored at Svalbard, where they’ll die pretty quickly?

Someone put me out of my misery.

A greater curse is the curse of unreliable technology. This post was supposed to magically appear three weeks ago. It didn’t. I don’t know why. And I was on the road at the time. No wonder it evoked no response …

Posted on

Great ethnobotanical collection online

Another great find from the recent issue of The Plant Press I blogged about yesterday is the Smithsonian’s website on Edward Palmer:

Edward Palmer (1831-1911), often regarded as “the father of ethnobotany,” gathered extensive natural history collections in North and South America during the late nineteenth century and established standards for plant collecting and reporting, particularly for plants useful to people. His scientific framework is still used today. This new Botany website, Edward Palmer Collections provides a window into the Palmer Collection to communities where Palmer originally collected, as well as to scientists and the general public.

Palmer held posts both as ethnologist for the Smithsonian and as USDA plant collector, and the connections between his botanical and anthropological materials are fascinating, and nicely highlighted on the website. Now, is anyone going to try to get DNA out of his corncob?

Posted on

Historical plant images online

The discussion of plants in religious iconography which followed a recent post (see the Featured Comment box at right) triggered some googling, which eventually led to Plant Image:

Plant Image is a searchable database of plant images, focusing on the Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae. Searches have been made from various sources including art (mosaics, paintings, and sculpture), illustrated manuscripts, and hand illustrated and printed herbals and books. We are concentrating our search on antiquity (Old and New World), medieval, and Renaissance sources but we intend to include more recent images as well. Bibliographic information on primary and secondary sources will be associated with each image and, in the case of herbals, associated text material will eventually be included. We hope to receive images and information from all persons interested in the Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae, so that the database will be a living, dynamic document.

An effort well worthy of support.