Science Forward

Today I joined a group of my fellow Macaulay students in the New York Botanical Garden to observe and learn about the plants that grew specifically in zone 2 of the garden. My bioblitz experience today was extremely different than what I had expected it would be. I expected a scavenger hunt type of experience that was fast paced, but was disappointed with an hour late arrival followed by a short excursion. Although our blitzing lasted a short time, the interesting information gained during that time made the day fun and worthwhile.
Our excursion to observe plants was in fact purely observation without any documentation of numerical data, so I did not sharpen my numbers sense. Unlike the students at sea in the SEA video, we did not sample the plants in the Botanical Garden. Rather, our scientist/tour guide showed us ways to identify plants and explained the concept of native and invasive plants. The process that we undertook began by clipping a branch with leaves on it from a tree, photographing it, asking questions about the plant’s texture, shape and color, and ended with looking up the species in a book based on the plants’ characteristics that we determined in the previous exercise. After finding the correct plant in the book, we then knew the common name of the plant.
Along the way, while examining about 12 different species of plants, I learned about a fresh water plant (phragmites australis) that grew along the Bronx River, about Salix (a willow), and about poison ivy. What I found most interesting about the tall growing phragmites australis species was that due to its height, it absorbs most if not all of the sunlight that strikes the area in which it grows, causing the smaller plants around it to slowly die, leaving the phragmites australis as the dominant plant in the area. Pursuing a degree in chemistry, it was interested to hear that a species of plant that we came across (Salix) produced or contained salicylic acid, which is used to make aspirin. Having done an experiment in which I made aspirin, it was nice to know where it came from and where it could be found. Our entire group explored the poison ivy section of zone 2, which didn’t seem like such a great idea at first, but something interested was brought up as I overheard from standing in the back of the group. Poison ivy is part of the same family as mangos and cashews (Anacardiaceae). This explains why some people have bad allergic reactions to mangos and cashews, which I found very interesting.
After having time to think about today’s bioblitz, I came to realize that the only way in which my understanding of urban ecology has changed is by seeing and learning about the species of, in my case, plants that are native to New York and New England. Unfortunately, I did not see how our urban society interacted with the Botanical garden. Overall it was an enlightening experience and the nice weather made the trip that much more fun and enjoyable.

Genus: Lobelia, Species: Siphilitica, aka Bell Flower