Hawthorns, Ferns and More- The Herbarium at Western

Located in Room 108 - 110 of the Staging Building, The University of Western Ontario Herbarium houses a collection of dried plants mostly from Southwestern Ontario, although there are specimens from all over the world. As the present curator, Dr. Jane Bowles says, “There are about 2300 species of plants recorded from Middlesex County. In addition to that, we have something around 10,000 specimens of just hawthorns in the Phipps research connection.” This abundance of hawthorns may seem redundant but they serve a purpose, as Bowles explains, “When people are compiling range maps they go to herbaria and look through the species that they’re interested in. There may be forty or fifty samples of [the species] and that gives them forty or fifty dots on the map.” There are other factors to consider in taxonomy studies, such as whether differences in the size and colour of fruiting bodies determine a new subspecies.

“When I took over,” says Bowles, “I realized that there are really two reasons for having a Herbarium. One is to use it for taxonomic research and the other is to document biodiversity.” Bowles admits that, up until recently, the Herbarium was primarily used for taxonomic studies. Now she says, “my emphasis is to change in the other direction to document biodiversity and …since we’re one of the bigger herbaria in the Carolinian Zone, in Southern Ontario, I decided that making this facility a research resource for Carolinian species was where it’s going to go if the Herbarium was to have a future.”

The Herbarium began in 1919 when Western’s Board of Governors accepted the plant collection of Wingham lawyer and amateur botanist James Morton. From his donation of about 3,000 pressed and dried specimens the facility was established. The collection had grown slowly until the 1960’s when Dr. Jim Phipps became the curator of the Herbarium. He began by taking an accurate count of the 7,000 species in the collection plus the 5,000 duplicates that were used for exchange. Under his direction, the collection grew substantially so that now there are 40,688 specimens, but that total changes almost every day.

The Herbarium is a necessary resource to keep track of what plant species are being depleted, what introduced species are encroaching and what species are extinct. Another part of Bowles' mandate is to raise the profile of the Herbarium. Even before she became curator, she had an idea how this could be done. “I was walking past the Map Library [on the ground floor of the Social Sciences Centre] and I talked to the curator there and I said, ‘How about a display on the Herbarium’? She said, ‘Great idea,’ and when I got the job, she emailed me and said, “OK.”

Bowles says that she would like to increase such outreach initiatives in a number of ways. “I’m hoping to persuade people like conservation authorities or consultants who are doing inventories of natural areas, mainly in the Carolinian Zone, to use the Herbarium to deposit their specimens, check plant IDs, and use the library which we’re trying to build up.” Bowles is also working at developing scheduled events. "On 23 January 2005 the McIlwraith Field Naturalists of London will be having an indoor ‘field trip' to the UWO Herbarium." says Jane Bowles, "the trip will introduce participants to the art and science of dried plant collection, preparation and storage."

The McIlwraith Field Naturalists of London, Inc. are dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of nature. MFN members come from all walks of life and share a common interest in natural history. For more information call about the MFN call 472-6103.

For more information about events at the herbarium you can email Dr. Bowles at jbowles@uwo.ca or call (519) 661-2111 ext. 86506.

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