Featured Herbarium: The UBC Herbarium, Beaty Biodiversity Museum

Linda Jennings

Overview

The University of British Columbia Herbarium (UBC) originated in 1912 as 'The British Columbia Provincial Offices Herbarium'; in 1916, the Herbarium was transferred to become part of the newly opened university. The Herbarium now comprises five collections: Bryophytes (253,000 accessioned specimens), Lichens (65,000), Fungi (34,000), Phycological (96,000), and Vascular Plants (252,000), located in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum on the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus. Our collections make up one of the largest herbaria in western Canada, housing over 700,000 specimens, and increasing by 5,000–7,000 specimens per year. We house specimens from around the world with a particular focus on bryophytes of the northern hemisphere; lichens of North America; macrofungi of British Columbia (B.C.); benthic marine and coralline algae of British Columbia, Washington, and Alaska; and vascular plants of Pacific Rim regions. Our mission is to assemble, curate, and maintain a collection of specimens for the purposes of biodiversity research, education, training, appreciation, conservation, and to contribute to awareness of botanical biodiversity.

History: The Early Years, UBC Herbarium

John Davidson (1878–1970), was a Scottish botanist who moved to Vancouver and initiated the Offices of the British Columbia Provincial Herbarium in 1911; one year later, he was appointed as the first Provincial Botanist of British Columbia by Dr. H.E. Young, B.C.'s Minister of Education (Fig. 1). Davidson, also known as "Botany John" Davidson, was given the responsibility and honour to lay the foundation of British Columbia’s Provincial Botanical Survey by traveling, collecting, corresponding, and encouraging collection activities of amateur plant collectors. He also conducted demonstrations in schools throughout remote parts of British Columbia. By 1915, the collection had expanded to 8,000 specimens, prompting Davidson to ask the Province for more resources to support him and his assistant, Mary Grutchy.

Fig. 1. John Davidson sitting at his desk in the Provincial Botanical Office in Vancouver, 1914.

City of Vancouver Archives, archives reference number CVA 660-641;1913;BC

After four years, due to the stresses of World War I, the Herbarium was deemed unnecessary for the province of British Columbia and was due to close. Davidson convinced the first President of UBC, Dr. Frank Fairchild Wesbrook, to support the establishment of a Botanical Garden and Herbarium to study the flora of B.C. In 1916, the Herbarium collection was moved to a temporary UBC location. John Davidson’s title at UBC became "the demonstrator in charge of UBC herbarium and botanical garden" establishing the first Botanical Garden at a university in Canada. Davidson was also the founder of the Vancouver Natural History Society (now Nature Vancouver).

Although the title of Herbarium Director was not formally specified, John Davidson served informally in this role until his retirement in 1948. Over the course of his 55-year career, he deposited 2,576 specimens (beginning in Scotland in 1899, and ending in British Columbia in 1947; Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. John Davidson’s field kit and Ranunculus acris specimen with the same specimen imaged 111 years later at UBC herbarium, perfectly preserved.

City of Vancouver Archives, archives reference numbers AM505-S1-: CVA 660-663;1910;BC

After Davidson’s retirement, the Head of the Botany Department was by default the Director of the Herbarium, with their involvement in the Herbarium’s activities varying widely. Two individuals, Dr. T.M.C. Taylor (1950–1969) and Dr. Robert F. Scagel (1972–1986), both organismal botanists, were very actively involved in the Herbarium’s activities. Scagel in particular had a large impact by supporting initial efforts to database the collection in the early 1980s, envisioning a specimen consortium for mapping biodiversity that proved instrumental in positioning the UBC Herbarium as an early leader in these efforts.

Heads of the Botany Department and Directors of UBC Herbarium

Dr. Thomas M.C. Taylor, 1950–1969; Dr. G.N.H. Towers, 1964–1972; Dr. Robert F. Scagel, 1972–1986; Dr. A.D.M. Glass, 1986–1991.

After Scagel’s retirement in 1986 the Herbarium saw very little activity from the Director until Dr. Gerald Straley was appointed as the first 'free-standing' Director of the Herbarium in 1991 while also serving as the Research

Scientist and Curator of Collections at UBC Botanical Garden. Straley deposited numerous horticultural and field collections from British Columbia as well as co-authored Vascular Plants of British Columbia and authored the award-winning book, The Trees of Vancouver. After Straley’s death in 1997 the position of Herbarium Director was vacant until Dr. Fred Ganders was appointed in 2000. When Ganders retired in 2005, Dr. Jeannette Whitton was appointed to the position. Whitton is the current Director, the second longest appointment after John Davidson.

Establishment of the Various Herbarium Collections

Bryophyte Collection

The UBC Bryophyte Collection is one of the largest in Canada. It currently consists of more than 218,000 accessioned specimens of hornworts, liverworts, and mosses, and includes tens of thousands of additional specimens in the backlog. Plant ecologist Dr. Vladimir J. Krajina (1905–1993) began the bryophyte collection at UBC in 1949, and by 1960, the collection consisted of approximately 3000 specimens. Dr. Wilfred B. Schofield (1927–2008) was hired in 1960, becoming the first bryologist hired by a Canadian university (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Wilf Schofield in the field in Haida Gwaii, June 21, 1994.

Photo: Olivia Lee

The vast majority of the specimens were contributed by Schofield (who collected more than 128,000 specimens and was one of the most prolific collectors of bryophytes) and his students, most notably Drs. Judith Harpel (who collected 8,759 specimens primarily from the western United States); Ian Worley (4,277, with a focus on southeastern Alaska); Benito Tan (3,908); Ching Chang Chuang (3,297 most from China and Taiwan); Judith Godfrey (3,291 liverwort specimens); and Terry McIntosh (2,718 specimens, most from the semi-arid steppe of south-central British Columbia). Former student R.L. Halbert contributed 3,505 specimens, mostly collected from throughout Vancouver Island. Postdoc and then research scientist Dr. René Belland co-authored several articles with Schofield, and deposited 7,547 specimens in the UBC Herbarium, rounding out representation from Atlantic Canada.

Schofield began collecting in the late 1940s as an undergraduate student at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, and continued during his time as a graduate student at Stanford and Duke universities, as a faculty member at UBC, and in retirement as Professor Emeritus, when he spent many summers collecting bryophytes in the Aleutian Islands with Dr. Stephen Talbot. Many specimens from within and outside North America were obtained through Schofield‘s extensive exchange program.

Following Schofield’s death in 2008, Dr. Judith Harpel (1950–2021) accepted the position of Curator of Bryophytes, donating her time to the Herbarium and obtaining several large and important collections, including thousands of liverwort specimens from Dr. Judith and Geoff Godfrey. From 1975 until her retirement in 2019, the Bryophyte, Lichen, and Fungi collections were ably managed by Olivia Lee, who cheerfully curated the collection, assisted researchers, and prepared specimens for loans and exchange.

The Fungi and Lichen Collections

The fungi and lichen collections were contained in a single cabinet until Dr. Robert Bandoni and his students started adding specimens to the collection after he was hired in 1958. Dr. Bandoni’s research in the Tremellales, a type of jelly fungus, was instrumental in the growth of the fungal collection for which he served as Curator until 1989. The collection houses a few of his type specimens including Fibulobasidium sirobasidioides Bandoni, Mycogloea amethystina Bandoni, M. bullatospora Bandoni, M. nipponica Bandoni, Sirotrema parvula Bandoni, and S. pusilla Bandoni, products of his 50 years of collecting. Bandoni co-authored a field guide to common mushrooms of British Columbia with Adam Szczawinski in 1964.

Phycological Collection

In the early history of the Department of Botany, the only faculty member who collected benthic marine algae was Miriam Armstead (née Ashton), who was an instructor. Armstead had taken a phycology course taught by Dr. William Randolph Taylor at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. She deposited a small collection of marine algae from Woods Hole, which was the nucleus of UBC’s Phycological Herbarium. In the early 1940s Dr. Andrew Hutchinson (Head of the UBC Botany Department), John Davidson, and R.W. Pillsbury obtained field support from commercial sources interested in benthic marine algae as potential sources of agar. In the course of their work, a few specimens were added to UBC’s Phycological collection.

While earning his B.A. (1946–1948) and M.A. (1948) at UBC, Robert F. Scagel (Fig. 4) was a student under John Davidson’s supervision. After earning his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (1952), Dr. Scagel was appointed to the Department of Botany at UBC and became the first Curator of the Phycological Herbarium. When he was hired, this collection included roughly 1,000 specimens. During his long career as Curator (1952–1986), Scagel, his graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows made significant collections of marine algae along the west coast of North America, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, and the Indian Ocean. These collections expanded the Phycological Herbarium to 67,000 specimens by the time Scagel retired in 1986.

Fig. 4. Robert Scagel in his original office, the "war huts" (1954).

Notable Collectors and Specimens

Notable Early Collectors (prior to ~1930)

Davidson’s own first collections for British Columbia including the Garibaldi and Okanagan regions, Davidson obtained specimens from some of the earliest botanical surveys of B.C. including specimens from the work of John Macoun, Geological Survey of Canada (UBC collections cover 1884–1917; 661 specimens); Albert J. Hill, New Westminster, Surveyor (UBC collections cover 1889–1916; 471 specimens); and James R. Anderson, Deputy Minister of Agriculture (UBC collections cover 1894–1910; 231 specimens).

Other early UBC collections include those of Joseph Kaye Henry who was a UBC English Professor in 1908 (back when it was McGill University), and served as the provincial secretary for the Botanical Club of Canada. Henry also wrote the first flora for B.C., The Flora of Southern British Columbia, in 1915. About the purpose of the Flora, Henry wrote, "to determine the plants of British Columbia is at present a task of considerable difficulty. No general herbarium has been established, and descriptions of plants are scattered through many books and scientific publications. To make these descriptions available for the amateur, rather than to attempt an authoritative survey of our Flora, the materials for which, indeed have not yet been assembled in British Columbia, is the general aim of the book" (UBC collections cover 1895–1929; 450 specimens). Eli Wilson, Charles Frederick Newcombe, and Albert J. Hill assisted Henry greatly with his flora. Newcombe and his son, William A. Newcombe, were important collectors of the Pacific Northwest, who sent many northern specimens to Henry to examine and catalogue (UBC collections cover 1896-1934; 323 specimens). Additional early collections include those of Eli Wilson, Armstrong, B.C. school principal in Okanagan (UBC collections cover 1901–1947; 1,117 specimens); A.E. Baggs (UBC collections cover 1910–1930; 245 specimens); J.A. Teit (UBC collections cover 1910–1921; 144 specimens); and W. Taylor, T.M.C. Taylor’s father (UBC collections cover 1912–1947; 895 specimens).

Notable Vascular Plant Collectors (~1930–1990)

The period from 1930–1980 was one of the most active for collecting and depositing specimens in UBC Herbarium. Much of this activity was associated with the Herbarium’s directors, curators, and graduate student researchers. Important collections include those of John W. Eastham (UBC collections cover 1925–1966; 6,500 specimens) who wrote the Supplementary to 'The Flora of Southern British Columbia' in 1947; T.M.C. Taylor, Herbarium Director (UBC collections cover 1925–1980; 6,800); Vladimir Krajina, Bryophyte Collection Founder (UBC collections cover 1949–1965; 8,800); Katherine (Kay) Beamish, Vascular Curator (UBC collections cover 1949–1980; 5,700); Dr. Adolf Ceska, Curator, British Columbia Provincial Museum (UBC collections cover 1969–2004; 1,100 specimens); Trevor Goward, Co-curator of lichens (UBC collections cover 1979–1994; 1,400 specimens); Gerald Straley, Herbarium Director and Vascular Curator (UBC collections cover 1972–1997; 5,500).

Present Day Notable Vascular Collectors

Some of our most recent notable collectors of vascular plants include Dr. Helen Kennedy, past Curator of Vascular Plants (UBC collections cover 1969–2006; 1,000 specimens); Frank Lomer, researcher (UBC collections cover 1988–present; 9,700 specimens); Curtis Björk, Co-curator of lichens (UBC collections cover 1998–present; 1,200 specimens); Bruce Bennett, Yukon botanist (UBC collections cover 1998–present; 2,000 specimens); and Dr. Jamie Fenneman, professional biologist (UBC collections cover 2016–present; 1,400 specimens).

Notable Phycological Collectors

Notable phycological collectors include: Robert Scagel, Herbarium Director, Curator of Algae (UBC collections cover 1945-1976; 3,700 specimens); Louis D. Druehl, researcher (UBC collections cover 1962-1973; 1,800 specimens); Thomas Mumford, researcher (UBC collections cover years 1967-2000; 1,000 specimens); Phil Lebednik, researcher (UBC collections cover 1971-1976; 7,000 specimens); Sandra Lindstrom, Algae Curator (UBC collections cover 1972-present; 6,400 specimens); Michael W. Hawkes, Algae Curator (UBC collections cover 1973-2001; 1,300 specimens); Patrick Martone, Curator of Coralline Algae (UBC collection cover 2003-present; 700 specimens).

Notable Specimens

UBC holds more than 650 type specimens spanning all five collections, including a large set of Calathea G.Mey. (Marantaceae) types in the vascular plant collection (70), and of Pyropia J.Agardh (Bangiaceae) and Porphyra J.Agardh (Bangiaceae) in our algae collection. Type specimens can be searched in the UBC Herbarium database on the Beaty Biodiversity Museum website at https://bridge.botany.ubc.ca/herbarium/index.php or on JSTOR Global Plants, https://plants.jstor.org/ using the repository code "UBC."

We hold some of the earliest specimens from British Columbia and Canada. We house the first B.C. specimens represented in J.K. Henry’s Flora of Southern British Columbia, duplicate specimens of Calder and Taylor’s collections for the Flora of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), and many of the specimens used to define the Biogeoclimatic (BEC) Zones of British Columbia designed by Dr. Vladimir Krajina.

Present Day

In 2010, all UBC natural history collections, including the Herbarium, were moved to the new Beaty Biodiversity Museum. The unique design of the Beaty Museum houses UBC’s 2.1 million natural history specimens in locked cabinets within the museum’s public space (Fig. 5). The move has resulted in enhanced opportunities for research, education, outreach, and community science.

Fig. 5. Beaty Biodiversity Museum shared collections and public space.

Photo: Derek Tan (2018)

Curators: Dr. Mary Berbee, Fungi; Trevor Goward, Lichens; Curtis Björk, Lichens; Dr. Sandra Lindstrom, Algae; Dr. Patrick Martone, Coralline Algae; Dr. Quentin Cronk, Eudicots; Dr. Sean Graham, Monocots and Early-diverging Angiosperms.

Collections Curators: Dr. Karen Golinski; Linda Jennings (Lipsen).

Bryophyte Collection

The major representation is from British Columbia, Alaska, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington. Schofield’s collections were also instrumental in setting up a strong exchange program which has increased the diversity of our collection (Fig. 6). The most comprehensive genera represented in the mosses are Andreaea, Grimmia, Hypnum, Isothecium, Philonotis, Racomitrium, Rhytidiadelphus, Schistidium, Sphagnum, and Takakia, and for the hepatics Anastrophyllum, Diplophyllum, Gymnomitrion, Lophozia (s.l.), Marsupella, Ptilidium, and Scapania.

Fig. 6. Specially constructed Bryophyte collection storage.

Photo: Karen Golinski (2017)

As a tribute to Schofield, the annual Wilf Schofield Bryophyte and Lichen Foray was established in 2009. Since that time the foray has been held in a different part of British Columbia each year and has attracted a following of professional and amateur bryologists and lichenologists.

Lichens and Fungi Collections

The Lichen collection currently contains more than 56,000 accessioned specimens and a large backlog. More than one third of the specimens were collected by Goward, and several thousand specimens were contributed by Björk. The Lichen collection has excellent representation from Canada, including more than 43,000 accessioned specimens, and in particular, B.C. (more than 37,000). Noteworthy collections include Dr. Willa Noble's Ph.D. research specimens collected from southeastern coastal B.C., Paul Barrett's Arctic specimens, George Scotter's Arctic specimens, and Krajina's Hawai’ian specimens. Once the backlog of Arctic specimens has been processed UBC will have one of the most comprehensive collections. It is also particularly rich in relatively obscure lichens, particularly crustose species, and contains a world class representation of caliciods, cyanolichens (especially Peltigera Willd., Peltigeraceae), and Hypogymnia (Nyl.) Nyl. (Parmeliaceae).

The Fungi collection has grown slowly to the present size of around 33,000 specimens. It is relatively small compared to other major fungal collections but authorities on B.C. fungi, including Oluna Ceska, Paul Kroeger, and members of the Vancouver Mycological Society and the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society (SVIMS), are actively building the collection. Some of the thousands of new specimens they have contributed are new records for the province. The Agaricales (mushrooms) section has expanded rapidly in recent years.

Phycological Collection

The Phycological Collection now holds nearly 85,000 specimens representing a comprehensive northeast Pacific focus, with the second largest coralline algal collection in North America. Genera with comprehensive representation include: most kelps (especially Alaria, Laminaria, and Saccharina), and common green (Ulva) and red algal genera (Chondracanthus, Mastocarpus, Mazzaella, Palmaria, Pyropia, Porphyra, Prionitis, etc.). Algal groups other than green, brown, and red seaweeds (including chrysophytes, cyanophytes, dinoflagellates, and tribophytes) are also represented by a small number of collections. The Alaska representation in the Phycological

Collection has been significantly augmented since 1972 by donations from Dr. Sandra Lindstrom, Phycological Curator (1995–present, 4,500) from her work primarily on Alaskan and British Columbian seaweeds, describing 12 species new to science with a focus on Mastocarpus Kützing and Pyropia/Porphyra. Patrick Martone, Coralline Curator (2008–present) and his graduate students have been enhancing the comprehension of the coralline algae collection, describing many new species to science.

Vascular Collection

The Vascular collection includes 223,000 specimens representing a comprehensive Pacific Northwest focus, including 150 years of British Columbia history. Nearly half of our collection is from British Columbia and a quarter is from other parts of Canada, with the Northwest Territories and Yukon especially well represented. We also have good geographic representation from surrounding states and provinces including Alberta, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The largest family representation in the collection is Asteraceae (26,000 specimens), followed by Poaceae (17,000 specimens), Cyperaceae (14,000 specimens), Ericaceae (10,000 specimens), and Brassicaceae (7,000 specimens). The most comprehensive genera in our collection are Salix, Erigeron, Saxifraga, Vaccinium, Castilleja, Festuca, Equisetum, Antennaria, and over 10,000 specimens of Carex.

Fig. 7. Collection BioBlitz Activity — UBC undergraduate students using specimens to understand collection data. Photo: Linda Jennings (2018).

Research

UBC faculty, research associates and many researchers from around the world use UBC specimens for research, as we have always had a very active loan program that contributes to global taxonomic studies, phylogenetics, biodiversity and global climate change research. With the new and expanded collection facilities, we have been able to increase our collection and support in research.

The Beaty Biodiversity Museum facilities provided more access for involving undergraduate students in research. Over the past 10 years, we have partnered with instructors teaching a variety of courses, and supported student research projects that allow a wider diversity of student perspectives to engage with the collection, collectors and their data.

The number of undergraduates using the collections in research has increased, with some students progressing from volunteers to independent researchers through their collections experience. Barbara Neto-Bradley (M.Sc. 2020), for example, came to the Herbarium as a volunteer after a tour in a first year class, and eventually conducted an ambitious collections-based research project using grasses collected over the last several decades to explore changes in the flowering time of grasses in relation to changing climate (https://explore.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/ researchers-revealed/b_neto-bradley/).

Graduate students have also benefited from enhanced facilities. Dr. Jamie Fenneman, for example, completed treatments for Antennaria Gaertn. and Symphyotrichum Nees of B.C. as part of his Ph.D. research (completed in 2019; https://explore.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/researchers-revealed/j_fenneman/).

Education, Outreach and Community Science

The Beaty Biodiversity Museum provides new opportunities for large numbers of UBC undergraduate students to contribute to research, during a classroom activity that we call a Collection BioBlitz (https://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/2018/03/22/herbarium-collection-bioblitz/). First and second year students visit the Herbarium to learn about collections, species variation, and how to take good field notes (Fig. 7). Students then help us inventory our collection (Fig. 8) through a 15-minute activity, in which they follow a carefully designed protocol that aims to find specimens not entered in our database, and also confirms the presence of databased specimens. To date, in just 4 years, 800 students have participated, confirming 12,000 kelp specimens, and uncovering 200 specimens lacking digital data, and therefore not available for online searches, a key entry point into our collections.

Fig. 7. Collection BioBlitz Activity—UBC undergraduate students using specimens to understand collection data.

Photo: Linda Jennings (2018)

The Collection BioBlitz first started out as an idea to have more students understand where specimen data comes from, and hopefully pique their interest in biodiversity and natural history collections so that they will be more likely to use specimens in their future research. This is in fact what we are seeing, with a number of students following a pipeline that involves mentorship from curatorial professionals, faculty in both research and educational leadership streams, and peer mentors including recent undergraduate alumni and current graduate students, together greatly enhancing undergraduate opportunities. An additional key aim of this project is to increase equity and diversity of opportunities for students in the collections, by exposing students early in their careers to the opportunities for research involvement within the collections. Future enhancements aim to increase the cohort sizes able to participate in these activities, using platforms such as Zooniverse and Notes from Nature, which allow students to transcribe label data and discover where species information comes from and how it is translated to the species description, species flowering times, and mapping biodiversity.

Fig. 8. Collection BioBlitz Activity—UBC students inventory collection.

Photo: Linda Jennings (2018)

Databasing and Imaging

The metadata of over 570,500 UBC specimens has been openly available for nearly 20 years. In addition, 45,000 vascular plant specimens and all of our type specimens have images available, reflecting our priority as a public institution to continually share our digitized information. In addition to hosting our own databases via the Beaty Museum, our records are available through E-FloraBC, the B.C. Conservation Data Centre (BCCDC), Canadensys, the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria (CPNH), the Consortium on North American Bryophyte Herbaria, the Consortium on North American Lichen Herbaria, the Mycology Collections data Portal (MyCoPortal), and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). These efforts have been funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund, the Museums Assistance Program (Department of Canadian Heritage), UBC Irving K. Barber B.C. History Digitization Program, and continued support from the UBC Department of Botany and the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.

Future

The UBC Herbarium’s future is driven by our vision statement, to be “a world class herbarium fostering excellence in pursuits that increase understanding, appreciation, and conservation of botanical biodiversity.” Having recently celebrated the Herbarium’s first century and the Beaty Museum’s first decade, we look forward to continuing to build on our traditions as we continue to innovate and incorporate the new tools to support our mission.

The next five years will bring an extension to our young museum facilities, increasing the collections storage, research, and imaging space and ensuring there is room to grow and improve access to and preservation of the collection.

At the core of our collections are the staff, students, volunteers, and botanical knowledge holders who ensure that our collections continue to grow, shed light on Canada's western flora, and contribute to our ability to address current and future challenges facing plant biodiversity.

Linda Jennings (Lipsen), Collections Curator, Vascular Plants and Algae, University of British Columbia Herbarium (UBC)