14
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 6 MAY, 2018
Biological collections preserved as dried
or wet plant or
animal specimens stored in herbaria or museum cupboards,
jars or display cabinets, represent a snapshot of a particular
moment in time which can tell a story or solve a problem.
These seemingly
dead
specimens, if well maintained, serve
as a valuable ‘biological clock’ linking the past with the
present and the future.
Trinidad and Tobago has a long recorded history of
plant exploration dating from 1498. Over the centuries
countless specimens from Trinidad and Tobago have been
removed and deposited in major herbaria in Europe and
North America. It is this historical propensity for collecting
and documenting specimens that gave rise to the National
Herbarium of Trinidad and Tobago which originated with
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Port of Spain established in
1818.
J. H. Hart, fourth Superintendent of the Botanic
Gardens, formalised the herbarium in 1887 by salvaging
some of the specimens from his predecessors. The earliest
specimens rescued from these early collectors dating from
1842 are integrated with the extant collection.
The vascular flora of Trinidad and Tobago dominates
the collections with a smaller regional sample. There are
good representative samples of marine algae, mosses and
liverworts.
The Herbarium provides a plant identification and
information service. Identifying over 6,800 specimens for
the public over the last 16 years involves challenges, such as,
identification of seeds on a victim’s clothing or endorsing
marijuana plants (
Cannabis sativa
) seized by the police.
A medical practitioner having a sick child ingesting
unfamiliar seeds and subsequently identified as rubber
The National Herbarium of Trinidad and Tobago
will formally launch its
200th anniversary celebrations on 22 May 2018
with a tree-planting ceremony at the St. Augustine Campus where the collection is housed under the stewardship of curator,
Yasmin Baksh-Comeau
. Among the activities planned is the collaboration with a re-afforestation project to take place in the hillside of Tunapuna,
where 200 trees will be put to earth between
Hillview College, the Biodiversity Society at The UWI and the Herbarium
. The trees will form part
of the promotion of greening the urban landscaping as part of
‘our green heritage’
and to become a part of the
Virtual Campus Arboretum
on the
website at
/
as soon as it is launched. Look out for more on the celebratory activities in our next issue.
THE FOLIAGE OF 200 YEARS
Using theDead to informthe Living
B Y Y A S M I N B A K S H - C O M E A U
Yasmin S. Baksh-Comeau is curator of the National Herbarium of Trinidad and Tobago, which is located at The UWI St. Augustine.
seeds (
Hevea brasiliensis
) was treated for probably cyanide
poisoning, and checking a packet of finely powdered
“Cat’s
Claw”
from The Food & Drug Division of the Ministry of
Health are examples of the work of the herbarium. Scholars
world-wide, in any field involving plants, must seek out a
herbarium. Similarly, two local publications come to mind
Medicinal Plants of Trinidad and Tobago
(Seaforth
et al.
1982) and
Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad and
Tobago
(Winer 2009)
relied heavily on our herbarium.
Recent research involved a botanical inventory
undertaken from 2005-2008 to develop a
Biodiversity
Monitoring System for Trinidad and Tobago,
in
collaboration with Oxford University, UK and the
Forestry Division, under the Darwin Initiative (this was
done concurrently with refurbishment of the Herbarium).
This botanical survey produced over 22,000 specimens of
which 90%were identified using the reference collection.
The results of this comprehensive study, soon to be
published, have (i) identified biodiversity ‘hot spot’ areas,
(ii) assessed the status of rare, threatened and endemic
species, and (iii) form the basis for a new vegetation
classification for Trinidad and Tobago.
In 2009, we initiated a
student internship programme
with the University of the SouthernCaribbean inMaracas,
Trinidad. This programme is designed to give students
an opportunity to volunteer their time while gaining
experience working in the herbarium.Thirty-one students
have participated in the programme mounting over
3,000 specimens from the huge backlog of specimens
accumulated over the years.The impact on USC students’
learning has been twofold: increasing awareness of the
richness of the local flora and leaving a legacy behind with
their mounted specimens. A long standing partnership
continues with
The Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’
Club
whose membership is dedicated to the study of our
natural history. Members have made good use of the
herbarium to identify plants from their field trips and
have added valuable specimens to the collection.
More importantly, our herbarium is supported as
‘a national asset’ by the Government of Trinidad and
Tobago.
