May 2001

An Herbarium Grows at Mason By Lynn Burke With 60,000 to 70,000 specimens, the herbarium in George Mason University's Biology Department is the fifth largest in the state and still growing. The herbarium, housed in tall metal cabinets that line the walls of a lab in Robinson Hall, is the pet project of biology associate professor Ted Bradley. Since 1967, Bradley and his students have been collecting, flattening, drying, and storing plant specimens with a substance akin to moth balls--even flattened and dried, the plants are tempting to certain types of insects. Bradley is currently using the herbarium to update the fourth edition of the Atlas of Virginia Flora, which documents county by county each plant in the commonwealth. The atlas shows each plant's distribution and whether it is rare or abundant. Bradley says that by referring to previous editions of the atlas, researchers can also determine any trends in a plant's distribution, such as whether non-native plants are becoming more invasive or whether other plants are disappearing. For example, Bradley has been able to watch ginseng in Virginia become more rare because of overharvesting by commercial interests. The specimens come not only from Virginia, but from other states and other countries as well. Of note are specimens that Bradley and his students have gathered from Andros Island in the Bahamas. Bradley regularly takes students there to collect specimens from different habitats. A duplicate set of specimens from each trip is presented to the Bahamas' Department of Agriculture, whose director recently sent Bradley a letter thanking him for the contribution of 2,098 specimens to the Bahamas National Herbarium. Bradley says that the Mason program has really helped the country establish its herbarium. Bradley says that some of the specimens have also come from surveys he has performed as a consultant to the Virginia Department of Transportation. When a new road project is proposed, Bradley is called in to survey the route for rare or endangered species. He says that although he hasn't kept any projects from proceeding, his findings have caused some to be rerouted. For more information on George Mason University's herbarium, please contact Ted Bradley at x31064 or tbradley@gmu.edu.