Eye On Plants

Among the two dozen or so ‘canoe plants’ introduced to Hawaiʻi by the first Polynesian voyagers, sugarcane is one of the most widely grown in the tropical world. Called kō in Hawaiian, elsewhere sugarcane is known as to (Marquesas, Tonga), tolo (Samoa, Tuvalu), and dovu (Fiji). This sturdy member of the Poaceae (grass family) may have been first cultivated in Papua New Guinea, possibly originating as Saccharum spontaneum, a relative of S. officinarum.

Kō (Saccharum spontaneum) is valued for its sucrose-rich fibrous pulp which is used to sweeten food, drinks, and medicine or (as old-timers will tell you) cut fresh with a cane knife and chewed in the field. For early Hawaiians, kō was more than a sweetener. It provided thatching, mulch, compost, an ornamental wind break, and served as a soil stabilizer.

NTBG senior research botanist Dr. David Lorence first encountered sugarcane as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1970, working in a program of agricultural diversification with the Mauritius Sugarcane Industry Research Institute. Like Hawaiʻi, the southwest Indian Ocean island nation supported a vibrant sugarcane industry before it turned toward tourism.

Dave Lorence notes that while sugarcane has played a central role in the economies and development of many tropical countries, it also bears a darker history based on slavery and indentured laborers. Fortunes were made and empires built on the backs of laborers who toiled in cane fields doing back-breaking work, cutting and stacking cane by hand in dirty, sometimes dangerous conditions.

Furthermore, the industry was known for its insatiable (and often destructive) thirst for water, waste runoff, heavy fertilization, and industrial pollution. During harvest time, when drier, lower leaves were burned off the cane, Hawaiʻi’s skies blackened with soot and ash.

Hawaii’s own industrial sugarcane industry began on Kauaʻi in the town of Kōloa and quickly spread across the islands, fueling the migration of workers from Asia, the Caribbean, and beyond, leading to cultural and societal shifts that remain today.

Despite its checkered past, many in Hawaiʻi harbor deep affection for ko, and rue wistfully for the recent past when the days grew shorter, the cane grew taller, and its silvery tassels blew in the wind, signaling autumn harvest, the rising of the Pleiades (Na huihui o makaliʻi), and return of the Hawaiian Makahiki season.

In 2022, NTBG hosted Dr. Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, a Hawaiian crop specialist at the University of Hawaiʻi. Noa worked closely with NTBG staff to verify the provenance and identity of the Garden’s kō collection. Presently, NTBG has 11 sugarcane cultivars in McBryde Garden, eight at Limahuli Garden, and an estimated 27 at Kahanu Garden.

Kahanu Garden director Mike Opgenorth worked with Noa to verify cultivars and identify duplicates among the garden’s collection. Mike says that Hawaiian kō varieties have adapted to thrive in very specific microclimates which can make growing them together in one collection a challenge. With its mix of traditional Hawaiian cultivars and other, more recent ones, Mike says Kahanu Garden is a great place for people to experience the splendor of sugarcane growing in robust clumps.

Mike spoke of the importance of the plants in perpetuating cultural knowledge, naming a little-known variety called Koeli lima a o Halalii which translates as the hand-dug cane of Halaliʻi, a rare white-stalked cane known to grow in the sandy dunes along Halaliʻi, a seasonal lake on the island of Niʻihau. When exposed to the sun, the cane’s stripes turn lime green and iridescent pink. Nourished by Niʻihau’s freshwater springs and periodic rainfall from Mt. Paniau, the legendary ko is mentioned in the centuries-old stories and chants of Niʻihau

“The Hawaiians name everything and have a reason for doing that. Every wind and every rain has a name. Every cultivar of every canoe plant also has a name,” said Mike DeMotta. “But if you don’t know the name, you don’t know what you can do with it.”

By Jon Letman, Editor

Posted on a wall in the office of the Breadfruit Institute at National Tropical Botanical Garden headquarters, a world map is marked by a bright green band indicating where breadfruit grows best. That band represents the potential to improve food security, increase reforestation, and bolster economic self-sufficiency.

One of the Breadfruit Institute’s most successful partnerships is with the Trees That Feed Foundation (“Trees That Feed”). Co-founded in 2008 by wife and husband Mary and Mike McLaughlin, two Jamaican-born breadfruit enthusiasts, Trees That Feed was established as a non-profit organization with the encouragement and support of NTBG Trustee Emeritus Douglas McBryde Kinney who also introduced Mary and Mike to Dr. Diane Ragone, director of the Breadfruit Institute.

Mike and Mary wanted to do something about climate change, environmental degradation, and global hunger, while creating economic opportunities. With breadfruit, they found they could address all.

As Trees That Feed grew, two promising breadfruit varieties—the Samoan Maʻafala and Tahitian Otea—caught Mary and Mike’s attention. After years of collaboration between Diane Ragone and Dr. Susan Murch, a plant chemist and tissue culture researcher at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan, Maʻafala and Otea were identified for their vigor, nutritional value, and suitability for mass micropropagation and global distribution.

Diane, who has spent more than 30 years studying and collecting breadfruit varieties from 50 Pacific islands, built the largest, most diverse collection of breadfruit varieties in the world. Since establishing a partnership with the Breadfruit Institute, Trees That Feed has distributed tens of thousands of micropropagated breadfruit trees originating from NTBG’s conservation collection to at least 18 countries and territories.

Since 2018, Trees That Feed has purchased breadfruit treelets from Tissue Grown, a California-based plant tissue culture company which grows the Breadfruit Institute-sourced Maʻafala that Mary and Mike have mostly donated to growers in Central America, the Caribbean, and Africa. A portion of the trees are sold commercially which helps support NTBG and the countries of origin.

South Pacific vibe

Tissue Grown’s president Carolyn Sluis explains how the tissue culture-raised breadfruit treelets are grown in peat and vermiculite plugs without soil. After acclimatizing in the greenhouse for six weeks, they are distributed around the world in flats of 72 saplings. Before the plants can be shipped, Tissue Grown must complete complicated and time-consuming shipping protocols through their local agriculture department. Once approved, the trees are sent by air and hand-delivered to overseas destinations by operations manager Karin Bolczyk.

Despite two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tissue Grown grew more than 100,000 Maʻafala and Otea in 2020-21. Last December, they shipped 1,800 Otea to Kenya with another shipment of three flats to Guinea in January 2022.

Calling Diane Ragone’s enthusiasm “infectious,” Carolyn hopes breadfruit will gain a foothold in more countries. For a company more accustomed to growing walnuts, pistachios, and cherries, breadfruit is somewhat unusual, but Carolyn and Karin agree that Maʻafala and Otea, with their “South Pacific vibe,” make breadfruit an irresistible feel-good crop.

Pacific connection

One of the farmers Karin has delivered breadfruit to was Nate Olive, owner of the 130-acre Ridge to Reef farm on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In the aftermath of the category-5 Hurricane Maria which devastated the region in 2017, Nate shifted his focus to growing breadfruit to replace lost trees and which he says proved to be a great morale booster.

Coordinating with Trees That Feed and Tissue Grown, Nate has already distributed some 3,500 donated trees on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. In addition to local Caribbean White and Yellow varieties, Nate grows Ma’afala which he distributes to farms, home owners, and government properties in order to improve food security and local economic development.

Breadfruit was introduced to the Caribbean in the 1790s and has long been used in traditional dishes like callaloo, tostones, and monfongo. Although breadfruit is considered a local crop, Nate says, “We’re very respectful of the food and its identity…we feel connected with our brothers and sisters in the Pacific.”

Breadfruit for all

Five hundred miles southeast of St. Croix, on the island nation of Barbados, breadfruit is eaten with flying fish as a mash called coucou. Barney Gibbs, chairman for the Future Centre Trust, one of Barbados’s oldest environmental NGOs partners with Trees That Feed to provide for urban reforestation. Barney says importing breadfruit has allowed him to introduce greater horticultural variety to the island.

Since 2015, Barney has received three shipments of around one thousand Ma’afala which, he says, has proven to be popular for its compact, easy-to-manage. He adds that the pandemic has only made breadfruit more popular as a nutritious, reliable crop, and for use in value-added products like flour, chips, and other foods.

Barney’s main project is urban reforestation along a nineteenth-century railway line that was converted into a biking and walking trail. The Barbados Trailway project is being lined with breadfruit and other fruit-bearing trees, providing food for anyone who needs it. Other trees are given to local schools and community centers.

New to Africa

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Catholic nuns in Kenya are harvesting what they call in Swahili shelisheli (breadfruit). Unlike in the Caribbean, breadfruit is a recent introduction. Joseph Matara, founder and executive director of the non-profit Grace Project (and Trees That Feed board member) welcomes the new crop. Joseph works closely with Mary and Mike to ship Otea and Ma’afala trees to Mombasa, Kenya, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Uganda’s Jinja district, north of Lake Victoria.

Like a handful of breadfruit trees believed to have been imported to Zanzibar from Goa long ago, breadfruit is proving to be best suited along East Africa’s coastal regions. Joseph has coordinated the donation of young trees to schools and other places where they are most needed. The high nutritional value and versatility of breadfruit make it ideal for improving food security. “For some of these children,” Joseph says, “what they eat at school is their only meal for the day.”

Other projects in West Africa (Ghana and Liberia) are taking root and Joseph sees great potential for breadfruit in Mozambique too.

Saving Lives in Haiti  

At its core, the Trees That Feed Foundation is about helping people. Mary recalls shipping one thousand breadfruit trees to Haiti in July 2021. Those trees arrived less than 24 hours before Haiti’s president was assassinated, an event that led to great instability. One month later, Haiti was rocked by a 7.2 earthquake and powerful tropical storm which soaked the nation already upended by political violence, poverty, and COVID.

Mary says that after last summer’s earthquake, trees they had imported in 2012 proved to be a lifesaver when other food sources were cut off. “The work of NTBG helped us get established to where we could feed thousands of people in the area immediately around the epicenter of the earthquake.”

Mike adds the network between the Breadfruit Institute, Trees That Feed, and other partners is a testament to the power of breadfruit. “We are ecstatic about being able to collaborate with NTBG. We couldn’t do what we’ve done if they hadn’t helped us so much.”

Mary too says she’s grateful for the partnership. “If breadfruit can be the source of a job, an environmental benefit, and feed the world’s poorest people, then I think we’ve done a pretty damn good job.”

Restoration efforts in Limahuli Valley show how a garden can save a stream.

by Dr. Uma Nagendra, Conservation Operations Manager, Limahuli Garden and Preserve with Puakea Moʻokini-Oliveira, Conservation Technician

In the middle of Limahuli Stream, cold mountain water cascades down boulders into a hip-deep pool. I am grateful for the wetsuit keeping me warm. Small river stones slick with algae slip beneath my tabis (water shoes). If I stay still, I might feel the dull pinch of Tahitian prawns nibbling my toes. Looking up at Limahuli Valley, I can see both sides of the cliffs where koae (white-tailed tropic birds) dart into their nests. I don my snorkel mask, nod to lead technician Puakea Moʻokini-Oliveira, who is standing on the bank with a timer and waterproof datasheets, take a deep breath, and dunk myself into the frigid water to enter the aquatic world of freshwater fishes. 

Immediately, several oopu nakea[1] dart away along the stream bottom, leaving silty clouds in their wake. As I step in their direction, I can see an oopu alamoo resting on a dark stone, its bright orange tail curled slightly against the rock contours. I almost miss the crowd of oopu nopili grazing on a patch of green algae because they are so close to the waterfall cascade. 

This underwater survey is a component of The Haʻena ʻOʻopu Restoration Project, a two-year project funded by the Hawaii Fish Habitat Partnership in order to enhance stream health and oopu population numbers in Limahuli Stream. Freshwater aquatic species like oopu were once a major food source, although now few Hawaii residents have ever seen one. 

While this underwater world may feel completely removed from the terrestrial world we inhabit at NTBG, they are actually intricately intertwined. Limahuli Stream is the thread connecting all parts of the watershed from mauka to makai (mountains to the sea). From the mist caught by the ohia (Metrosideros sp.) canopy in the uppermost valley, filtered down through moss, leaf litter and soil, flowing underground through porous rock, or overland in rivulets and gulches, all the valley’s water eventually follows Limahuli Stream to the ocean.

“In Many ways, the health of the stream indictes the health of the rest of the valley.”

Dr. Uma Nagendra, Conservation Operations Manager

Streams carry carbon, nutrients, and silt to the reef. Riparian ecosystems (streams and stream banks) offer unique habitats for plants and animals that are adapted to constantly moist, periodically flooded conditions. In many ways, the health of the stream indicates the health of the rest of the valley. Healthy streams also provide critical ecosystem services such as clean water, erosion prevention, and food.

With the abandonment of traditional stream management practices and introduction of invasive species, stream health has declined throughout Hawaii. Stream diversions, blockages, and invasive species overgrowth have adversely transformed many riparian systems that were once highly productive and biodiverse ecosystems.

Although Limahuli Stream is considered “pristine,” with high levels of biodiversity and among the least disturbed stream systems on Kauai, it is home to far fewer oopu than neighboring Hanakapiai Stream. A past comparison of the two suggests that the amount of sunlight reaching the streams could be a major contributing factor to the lower population in Limahuli. Native green algae are the foundation of the riparian food web, and thrive in high light conditions. A promising pilot study led by NTBG research associate Kawika Winter[2] several decades ago tested this idea on a small scale. The Hāʻena ʻOʻopu Restoration Project expanded that study in order to see if opening up longer sunny stream corridors (as would have been maintained with traditional stream management) would also increase green algae growth and oopu populations. 

One of the main activities of this project was the selective trimming of Schefflera actinophylla, a highly-invasive tree species that threatens the health and resilience of the riparian ecosystem by preventing sunlight from reaching the stream, which limits green algae growth. The tree’s high evapotranspiration rates and inhibition of understory growth reduce groundwater penetration and storage, contributing to flash floods and erosion. Schefflera’s sprawling growth forms also threaten the integrity of valuable cultural resources. For this project, invasive trees were trimmed by an experienced local arborist crew (Haleleʻa Tree Service), with the help of Limahuli Garden staff. 

Afterwards, Puakea and I started planting on the freshly cleared stream banks, with the help of many other Limahuli staff, KUPU service members, and volunteers. We hand-carried and planted over 4,742 native plants like kokio keokeo (Hibiscus waimeae hannerae), hala (Pandanus tectorius), and many others[3].

The mix of species was selected in consultation with previous restoration managers and living collections experts at NTBG. These included species sourced from northwest Kauai, quick to establish and grow in riparian areas, and which have strong root systems that will help prevent future erosion on a now-vulnerable stream bank. We also chose a few species that are likely pollinated by moths (scented, white, night-blooming flowers) in order to further promote moth habitat, including endemic Hyposmocoma and the opeapea (Hawaiian hoary bat) that feeds on them. 

Throughout the project, Puakea conducted stream surveys to assess how the aquatic wildlife were responding to this change. The entire 1,500-foot restoration area was divided into three 500-foot sections where we swam for an underwater census of the aquatic animals. We also surveyed a cross-section of different parts of the stream to document the algal growth, substrate composition, and stream characteristics like water temperature, flow rate, and canopy openness. 

Spending so much time along the stream banks allowed us to observe just how many other species enjoy this area as well. By investigating the lower stream, Puakea was able to note how hīhīwai[4] migrated up the stream into our restoration zone — and even spotted their small pink eggs on the rocks. While we planted or weeded, we were often joined by an aukuu (Black-crowned Night Heron) standing statue-like to fish on a nearby boulder, or a pair of Koloa maoli ducks playing in the current. 

One of the best parts of this project was working with school groups, volunteers, and partnering community organizations. Although COVID precautions limited our interactions after the first six months of the project, we were able to welcome two recurring classes from Kanuikapono Public Charter School, a work-exchange with the Waipā Foundation, and a new stream research collaboration led by the non-profit Nā Maka Onaona. 

Our results indicated that canopy openness alone was not enough to boost oopu population numbers within the time frame of this project. Aquatic animal diversity remained high, however, and indicators of stream health such as temperature were unchanged. By restoring the stream banks to native habitat, the stream corridor should now be even more hospitable to native birds, bats, and invertebrates, and safer from the invasive tree falls that exacerbated flood impacts in 2018.

The completion of this project is just the start of this important new restoration area. In order to sustain those benefits, we will need to continue maintaining the stream corridor. Ongoing collaborative stream monitoring will also help improve our understanding of watershed resilience both in the Limahuli Valley and in freshwater systems all across Hawaii. 

Editor’s note: The author wishes to thank those who contributed significantly to this project: Kawika Winter, Ashley Ramelb, Saori Umetsu, Moku Chandler, Noah Kaaumoana, Pelika Andrade, Mackenzie Fugett, Lauren Pederson, Matthew Kahokuloa Jr., Kassandra Jensen, Joshua Diem, Emma Stauber, and others. Funding for this project was provided by The Hawaii Fish Habitat Partnership, which is coordinated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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[1] ʻOʻopu are species (Awaous sp.) of goby native to Hawaii. The three most common ʻoʻopu in Limahuli stream are ʻoʻopu nākea (Awaous guamensisi), ʻoʻopu alamoʻo (Lentipes concolor), and ʻoʻopu nōpili (Sicyopterus stimpsoni)

[2] Dr. Kawika Winter was director of Limahuli Garden and Preserve from 2005 to 2018.

[3] Including koaia (Acacia koaia), māmaki (Pipturus kauaiensis), ʻākia (Wikstroemia oahuensis), koʻokoʻolau (Bidens forbesii forbesii), and ground covers such as ahuʻawa (Cyperus javanicus), makaloa (Cyperus laevigatus), pili (Heteropogon contortus) and ʻaeʻae (Bacopa monnieri). 

[4] Endemic freshwater snail (Neritina granosa)

Plants are the basis of healthy ecosystems from ridge to reef across Hawaii. The islands have truly unique and diverse ecosystems that provide our communities with a myriad of critical resources.

NTBG’s Hawaii Education Series provides students and families with fun and inspirational videos and activities exploring the plants, cultural resources, and people that make Hawaii special. Explore the videos below and check out more resources on our education page.

Often overlooked, ferns are a critical part of Hawaii’s native forest ecosystems and watersheds. Since 2007, the NTBG Fern Laboratory has been one of very few botanical research centers focused on the study and propagation of rare Hawaiian Ferns, which make up nearly 27.4 percent, or more than a quarter, of native flora. The need to understand and protect these vital species has never been greater. Read on to learn more about the Fern Lab, NTBG research, and how you can help save species today.  

Hawai’i: Land of Pteridophytes

When you picture the flora of the Hawaiian Islands, colorful hibiscus, sweetly scented plumeria, and swaying coconut palms may be the first to come to mind. While important, these plants commonly associated with Hawaii are vastly outnumbered in native ecosystems by ferns. Across the islands, ferns dominate many niches in the wet, dry, and mesic forest environments. They absorb heavy rains, mitigate runoff, and provide habitat for native birds, moths, snails, and insects. Altogether there are 159 native species of ferns and lycophytes in the Hawaiian Islands, with 74 percent of those endemic to the islands. 

The abundance and variety of ferns in Hawai’i are extraordinary, but so are the threats they face. Like many native Hawaiian plants, ferns are threatened by other plants, animals, disease, and loss of habitat. Ferns are particularly vulnerable because they lack defenses and usually grow low to the ground, near the mouths of hungry pigs, goats, and deer.

Saving Spores, Saving Ferns

Critically endangered Hawaiian ferns have been at the center of NTBG Research Associate, Dr. Ruth Aguraiuja’s work for more than two decades. Previously, as a senior researcher at Tallinna Botaanikaaed (Tallinn Botanic Garden) in Estonia, Dr. Aguraiuja’s desire to learn more about Hawaiian fern biology, ecology, and conservation methods has led to many breakthroughs as well as the reintroduction of hundreds of plants to their in situ habitat on Kauai. 

Finding efficient propagation and conservation methods is critical to success because growing some native ferns can be time-consuming. In 2016, Dr. Aguraiuja shuttled hundreds of native Hawaiian Asplenium ferns propagated from spores in Estonia back to Kauai. Dr. Aguraiuja collected the spores in 2011 while botanizing in the high elevation forests of Kaua’i. In their early stages, ferns can grow very, very slowly, sometimes taking as long as two years to become a sporophyte and develop simple, tiny fronds. Thanks to Dr. Aguraiuja’s work and partnership, NTBG, staff, researchers, and interns have continued to utilize the Fern Lab to propagate rare, endangered, and culturally significant ferns from tiny spores, and to preserve genetic diversity needed to re-establish endangered populations in the wild. 

Prior to the existence of the Fern Lab, propagation was primarily done through division (splitting of one plant into two or more by breaking the original in half with roots and crown attached to both halves). While division is a successful and efficient method for species with long creeping and branching rhizome (underground horizontal stems), each new plant is an exact clone of the parent. This does not promote genetic diversity, a key component in successful restoration and species conservation. Additionally, not all ferns species can be propagated in this way. By developing the protocols to grow ferns successfully from spores, we will be able to maintain the genetic diversity found in nature, and we will broaden our list of species, particularly the rare ones, that we can conserve and add to both ex situ and in situ conservation sites. 

Today, spore propagation is taking center stage in the Fern Lab, but there is still much to discover about these hardworking Hawaiian plants. 

Why Fund Fern Research?

Pristine areas of Hawai’i are covered in ferns, which makes them critically important to restoration and conservation efforts, but little research is happening on a large-enough scale to make a big impact now. “Ferns provide the foundation of functioning ecosystems in Hawaii and we still have so much to learn about them,” said Mike DeMotta, NTBG’s Curator of Living Collections. “For example, the time from propagation to outplanting varies across species. For some rare ferns it takes four years to go from gametophyte to plantlet. For others we can outplant within months to a year – this is why we need to support our Fern Lab, so we can learn how to best grow and care for our native species ex situ and in the wild.”

Providing additional support to the NTBG Fern Lab will go further than propagation and outplanting. It will also provide bandwidth for further study and continuity not previously available. “I am excited about the potential of what we can learn and do with full-time staff and funding in the Fern Lab,” said Mr. DeMotta. 

In addition to the propagation of ferns, NTBG interns are currently looking at fern spores saved in the herbarium collection and conducting propagation studies to see if spores retain their viability after drying. When possible, fresh spores of the same species are collected and propagated in the Fern Lab and compared to the dried spores. “Our hope with this study is to be able to recover more fern species from dried collections that have become rare over time”, noted Mr. DeMotta. 

The Need is Upon Us

Hawai’i is a biodiversity hotspot which means the islands, while biologically diverse, also suffer from a high rate of habitat and species loss. In other words, the need for enhanced support directed toward the conservation of floristic diversity in Hawaii and tropical regions around the world is great. 

“We need a renaissance in conservation,” said Ken Wood, NTBG Senior Research Biologist. “Managing just one species requires so much support. To manage and restore entire ecosystems of threatened and endangered plants requires action today. Now is the time to spread the word. Get your friends, family, and organizations involved,” Mr. Wood continued. 

NTBG is dedicated to tropical plant discovery, conservation and research. Our work includes conducting regional plant surveys, documenting and describing new species, publishing data, furthering conservation efforts through research, protection, and cultivation, and re-establishing populations of rare plant taxa in situ. 

Funding the Fern Lab and protecting native ferns is just one of the ways we are saving plants and saving people. You can support these critical and comprehensive efforts to protect plants and tropical ecosystems worldwide with a gift today. Donate now. 

The propagation of a rare, endemic Hawaiian tree in the NTBG Conservation Nursery connects us to the past and shows us a way forward.

Born from volcanoes and shaped by wind, water, and waves, the Hawaiian islands evolved over millions of years to become some of the greatest biological treasures on Earth. What would we see, hear, and smell if we could travel back in time and explore Hawaii’s ecosystems as they were thousands of years ago? Perhaps we would see lush and multilayered forests protected by a tall canopy of trees that dapples sunlight onto the shrubs and dense understory below. We might hear sweeping winds and chattering branches punctuated by the chirps of colorful forest birds. The smell of damp soil, mist-covered leaves, and sweet, delicate floral notes might fill the air. It’s similar to what we might experience today with a few glaring absences. 

The unique flora and fauna of the islands are declining at an unprecedented rate. With 90% of the 1367  unique plant species in Hawaii endemic to the islands, Hawaii sits atop the list of places with the most endangered and extinct species. The situation is dire, but we have the tools and resources needed to change course. NTBG and local, state, federal, and private conservation partners are connecting the science, conservation, and research dots to secure the survival of endangered trees such as the Gardenia remyi.

Gardenia Remyi

A member of the Rubiaceae (coffee) family, Gardenia remyi (known as Nanu in Hawaiian) is an endemic tree found on the Islands of Kauai, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii. Its habitat ranges from mesic to wet forest, ridge shrubland, and wet cliff. The branches of Gardenia remyi are covered in minute, soft, downy hairs, and leaves cluster towards the tips of the branches. The flowers are white and fragrant with delicate cinnamon, vanilla, and coconut notes. Traditional uses of the orange fruit pulp include creating yellow dye for kapa cloth. With approximately 80 mature trees remaining in the wild, Gardenia remyi is Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and threatened by displacement from nonnative plants, landslides, and reduced reproduction in the wild. 

“it can be quite overwhelming and wondrous to discover new individuals of this large tree species”

“I’ve had the honor to work on the conservation of Gardenia remyi throughout its known range. Trees of this species have always been few and far between,” said Ken Wood, NTBG Research Biologist. “Currently the known number of wild individuals stands at around 80. Because there are so few trees remaining, it can be quite overwhelming and wondrous to discover new individuals of this large tree species, especially when they are in flower and fruit! I’ve observed Gardenia remyi in both wet and mesic conditions, and more often than not they occur in some of the most remote and isolated forests of the Hawaiian Islands. I feel a sense of relief knowing that there are numerous talented individuals working on preventing the extinction of Hawaiian Gardenia and others anonymously supporting conservation efforts,” Ken continued. 

From Collection to Cultivation

When you think of rare plant conservation and saving species like Gardenia remyi, the image of field botanists like Ken rappelling over cliffs or adventuring through the wilderness to locate, document, and collect rare plants may come to mind. With more than 50 years of tropical plant research and conservation experience, it is certainly an image synonymous with NTBG. 

However, botanizing, and collecting plants for study is only one piece of the complex plant conservation puzzle. Tucked into the Lawai Valley on the South Shore of Kauai, dedicated NTBG staff, volunteers and partners propagate and grow endangered species at the NTBG Conservation Nursery. At first glance, the Conservation Nursery looks like almost any other – sheltered in an unassuming, plantation-style building flanked by propagation tables and shade cloth. However, NTBG has collected or co-collected at least 19 endemic taxa believed to be extinct in the wild that are prospering in nursery conditions. Hawaiian species such as Delissea rhytidosperma, Kadua haupuensis, Kanaloa kahoolawensis, Stenogyne campanulata, and others might have gone completely extinct had it not been for NTBG efforts. 

“At the NTBG Conservation Nursery, our focus is on providing quality care for threatened and endangered native plants.”

“At the NTBG Conservation Nursery, our focus is on providing quality care for threatened and endangered native plants. It is our role to be prepared at all times for any collection that may enter the nursery,” said Rhian Campbell, NTBG Conservation Nursery Manager.“ Gardenia remyi is one of those collections that needs a long-term approach to assist survival because there is little reproduction occurring in the wild,” she continued. 

Thanks in part to a grant from Fondation Franklinia, a Swiss private foundation that supports the conservation of globally threatened trees, NTBG and partners have a unique opportunity to focus on native trees in need of critical conservation. Eleven species known to the Limahuli Valley, including G. remyi, with a remnant population of fewer than ten individuals have been chosen for the three-year study. Over the course of the project, NTBG will collect and propagate seeds to grow trees that can eventually be outplanted in the Limahuli Preserve to add genetic diversity to and reinvigorate wild populations. 

A Learning Process with Signs of Success

Gardenia remyi has been growing in the Conservation Nursery periodically for decades, but until recently the trees had never thrived, in fact they appeared stunted, rarely flowered and many were lost to poor overall health. Since the Securing the Survival of the Endangered Endemic Trees of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i  project began in 2020, much has been learned about the soil amendments and conditions required to grow these rare and beautiful tropical trees ex-situ.

“Conditions in our low-elevation nursery are considerably different from conditions in the mountainous, higher-altitude interior of the islands where these trees are known to exist today,” remarked Hayley Walcher, Living Collections Assistant. “In addition, the environment in which these trees evolved has changed quite drastically since Polynesian Voyagers first arrived on the islands. As horticulturalists, one approach we can take is to try to imagine what conditions would have prevailed in those years before human contact and try to replicate them in the nursery,” she continued. 

In recent scientific history, wild populations of Gardenia remyi have been documented along our ridgelines and forests. Therefore, before human contact, it is possible that G. remyi would have been found in landing and nesting zones for coastal and forest birds, where a significant amount of guano would be present in the soil making it rich in phosphorus, nitrogen, and other essential microbes. Operating under that hypothesis, nursery staff started to research the conditions in which the plants were likely to thrive and connect the dots with field botanists to better understand their habitat today. 

“With knowledge of past and present habitats, we started to use natural soil amendments that encouraged the growth of microbes and fungi…”

“We noticed early on that our traditional method of growing plants in a sterile media with commercially available fertilizers was not supporting the long-term survival of Gardenia remyi,” said Rhian. “With knowledge of past and present habitats, we started to use natural soil amendments that encouraged the growth of microbes and fungi within our potting media, such as worm castings and mycorrhizal inoculants, and saw an almost instant response in the health of our trees.”

In January 2021 nursery staff conducted a few more informal experiments using native soils and other natural amendments as topdressing and within a few months new sets of leaflets emerged and the leaves darkened into a healthy, deep green color. Since then, staff and volunteers have consistently fertilized Gardenia remyi treelets with natural amendments such as worm castings, biochar, fish fertilizer, seaweed extract, seabird guano, composted manure, and mycorrhizal inoculant.

Everything is Connected

Hawaiian ecosystems are complex and interconnected biological communities which makes growing rare plants ex-situ a challenge. But, with signs of success starting to emerge for G. remyi in the nursery, the next step for staff was to determine the amount of water and drainage needed for the trees to thrive. “We used our understanding of the high drainage environments that they grow in naturally to adjust the media mix we were using, adding more cinder and perlite while also adding more peat moss to help lower the pH and better match the somewhat acidic conditions they prefer in the wild,” remarked Hayley. 

With soil, water, and drainage conditions now carefully tailored for this species in the nursery, G. remyi quickly outgrew its space. Thanks to a generous donation, a new rare tree area was created in the nursery that allows staff to keep a close eye on the trees and protect them from fungal pathogens, spider mites, and other leaf-sucking insects. 

Looking Ahead

While there is much to celebrate with Gardenia remyi today, challenges to plant reproduction and preserving genetic diversity still lie ahead. Only one G. remyi tree growing in the nursery is currently flowering; this tree was propagated via air layering from a mature, flowering tree while the others were grown from seed or cuttings from younger trees and are not yet mature enough to flower. 

To further complicate things, plants generally employ strategies to ensure that they have the best possible mix of genetics present in their offspring, and without knowing which strategies are in use by a particular species, it can be tricky to determine how to time pollination or provide the necessary match-making environment to produce successful fertilization. 

Trees in the genus Gardenia are often dioecious plants, meaning that trees often produce either male or female flowers. The nursery staff noticed that the flowers on our lone air-layered G. remyi tree seem to produce both male and female parts on the same flower. “This often means it is easier to produce self-fertilized seed, so it is unclear why we have been unsuccessful thus far.” said Rhian. “We have made attempts at self-pollinating the flower, pollinating a flower with pollen collected in the wild and brought to the nursery after a period of cold storage, and recently by mixing pollen from two flowers on the same tree. So far we have not been successful at producing seed, but will continue testing different pollination strategies,” she continued. 

NTBG’s ex-situ collection of G. remyi trees represents only six trees from the wild and were propagated by a combination of cuttings, seed, and air layering. One of our immediate goals is to continue bringing these propagules of wild plants into cultivation to increase the genetic diversity of our collection. This will provide the best chance we have to plant enough healthy new trees that they will be able to produce offspring on their own again. 

Humans and nature are inextricably connected. Protecting and restoring our natural ecosystems is one of the most promising climate solutions we can invest in to safeguard our future.  The conservation story of G. remyi and other endemic trees in Hawaii not only connects us to the past but also shows us there is a way forward. 

About NTBG

National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is a not-for-profit institution, dedicated to discovering, saving, and studying the world’s tropical plants and sharing what is learned.

Our network of five botanical gardens, preserves, and research facilities encompasses nearly 2,000 acres with locations in Hawaii and Florida. Thousands of species from throughout the tropical world have been gathered, through field expeditions, collaborations with other institutions and researchers, to form a living collection that is unparalleled anywhere.

Our collection includes the largest assemblages of native Hawaiian plant species and breadfruit cultivars in existence. Many of the species in our collections are threatened and endangered or have disappeared from their native habitats. In our preserves and beyond our gardens, NTBG is working to restore habitats and save plants facing extinction.

Our gardens and preserves are living laboratories and classrooms for staff scientists, researchers, students and visitors from all over the world. You’re invited to be a part of our team. Help us save plants and make a difference by joining as a member!  Sign up by May 31, 2022, for a chance to win a VIP experience.

Kalaheo, Hawaii (May 3, 2022)—The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) has announced that it has named P. Barry Tomlinson as recipient of the 2020 Robert Allerton Award for his contributions to botany and horticulture. The award was presented to Tomlinson in Boston by NTBG CEO and Director Janet Mayfield and NTBG President Chipper Wichman on March 31.

P. Barry Tomlinson is an Edward C. Jeffrey Professor on Biology, Emeritus at Harvard University and noted expert in the study of the palm family (Arecaceae).

The Robert Allerton Award is presented every other year in recognition of individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to botany or horticulture. Tomlinson was selected as the 2020 recipient after being nominated by NTBG senior research botanist Dr. David Lorence.

Lorence said Tomlinson’s extensive contributions to understanding the biology and function of a wide range of tropical plant groups made him a natural choice to receive the Allerton Award. He praised Tomlinson as an “outstanding botanical mentor” who taught his students to “ask the plants” by studying their functionality on micro and macroscopic levels.

Recalling his enthusiastic teaching style, Lorence described Tomlinson’s delight in demonstrating how a chainsaw and machete could be used to deconstruct a palm, laying out fronds and inflorescence to illustrate how a tree’s parts form the whole. Tomlinson was equally enthusiastic about examining thin sections of plant tissue under a microscope to show students structural anatomy at the cellular level.

From his decades of research to his devotion in teaching generations of future botanists,” Lorence said, “Barry Tomlinson has been a major influence in the world of tropical botany.”

Internationally known for his study of palms, Tomlinson was lead author of the influential The Anatomy of Palms, long considered the definitive reference work showcasing the singular role of the palm family. Additionally, Tomlinson has authored The Botany of Mangroves, Architecture of Tropical Plants, and numerous books and publications on the anatomy and morphology of monocots, the biology of coastal and marine plants including seagrasses, mangroves, and the plants of the Everglades. Additionally, he has published works related to developmental morphology and the reproductive biology of gymnosperms, including Cycads.

Phillip Barry Tomlinson was born in 1932 in Leeds, England where he says he first experienced a curiosity for plants in “the meadow just over the garden wall.” As an undergraduate at the University of Leeds, his fascination with plants grew as he earned a Bachelor of Science and Ph.D.. While a graduate student, Tomlinson began working closely with palms at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Fortuitous timing allowed him the opportunity to dissect and examine a large number of palm trees during a period when the Kew greenhouse was being renovated.

Tomlinson was later appointed to a position at the University of Singapore Botanic Gardens where his fascination with Arecaceae deepened, leading him to travel to West Africa where he was appointed to the faculty of the University of Gold Coast (University of Ghana) for three years in the late 1950s. During that period, he studied palms and their connections to people along coastal West Africa as far south as Cameroon.

From Africa, Tomlinson relocated to Miami, Florida where he began collaborating with the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, the Montgomery Botanical Center, and NTBG’s garden The Kampong located in Coconut Grove. It was there, through his association with Kampong director Larry Schokman, that he forged a relationship with NTBG.

After NTBG offered Tomlinson a research associate position, he embarked on developing a summer teaching course for Harvard University using lab space at The Kampong and Montgomery Botanical Center. While teaching in Miami, Tomlinson had a student named Kiat W. Tan, later known for his role in helping develop Singapore’s concept of a “city in a garden.”

While working at the Montgomery Botanical Center, Tomlinson made fundamental discoveries about the gymnospermous group Cycads based on material cultivated at the center, thereby illuminating characteristic features of their anatomy.

Dr. Patrick Griffith, executive director of the Montgomery Botanical Center, called Tomlinson a “titan among botanists,” saying he was fortunate to have worked with him. “His mastery of classic and fundamental techniques fosters genuine discovery and deep understanding of our plant world,” Griffith said, adding, “Barry is a gifted educator as well. His courses on tropical botany are legendary. Truly, there are very few as deserving as Barry for this high honor.”

Upon learning that he had been selected to receive the Allerton Award, Tomlinson said, “With becoming modesty I am happy to accept the Allerton Award and am honored to be in the company of such distinguished previous recipients.”

Tomlinson attributed much of his success to a long list of mentors and teachers who, he says, guided him on his path to a life of botany. Those named include University of Leeds botany professor Irene Manton who he says, facilitated his acquisition of scholarships and promoted his research. Other noteworthy influences include Charles Russell “C.R” Metcalfe, keeper of Kew’s science laboratory and Harold E. Moore, director of Cornell University’s Bailey Hortorium.

A plainspoken Yorkshireman to his core, Tomlinson, admitted his professional journey has been most unlikely, recalling himself as once a “callow youth from the wastes of the north of England, bouncing around the tropics looking at coconuts.” Never one to mince words or indulge in exaggeration, Tomlinson spoke highly of the towering trees at the center of his career, noting how the palm’s distinctive construction is entirely primary, composed of single axis stem tissue that lives throughout its life, growing mostly in height, not thickness, adding that palms certainly are, by definition, trees. “What’s the definition of a tree?” Tomlinson asked. “A tree is something if you climb and fall out of, you’ll break your neck,” he quipped.

The Robert Allerton Award for Excellence in Tropical Botany or Horticulture is named after one of NTBG’s founding trustees and its principal initial benefactor, and consists of a bronze medal and honorarium. The award was first presented in 1975 to Dr. Richard E. Holttum of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Other past recipients include Dr. Harold St. John, Bishop Museum (1981), Dr. F. R. Fosberg, Smithsonian Institution (1983), Dr. Peter H. Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden (1988), Dr. Warren L. Wagner, Smithsonian Institution (1994), Dr. Natalie Whitford Uhl, Cornell University (2003), Prof. Sir Ghillean Prance, Eden Project (2005), and Dr. David Lorence, NTBG (2017). Prof. Tomlinson is the 22nd recipient of the Allerton Award.

The National Tropical Botanical Garden is a not-for-profit, non-governmental institution with nearly 2,000 acres of gardens and preserves in Hawaii and Florida. Its mission is to enrich life through discovery, scientific research, conservation, and by perpetuating the survival of plants, ecosystems, and cultural knowledge of tropical regions. NTBG is supported primarily through donations and grants.

Media contact: media@ntbg.org

On the steep montane face of the island’s windward side, the tradewinds whistle through thick vegetation in an almost melodic manner. There are no roads or structures here, but there is a tiny population of Polyscias bisattenuata – a critically endangered Hawaiian tree nestled in the vegetation and living on the brink of extinction.

“Endemic Hawaiian species have intrinsic value and a rightful place in this landscape.”

“Endemic Hawaiian species have intrinsic value and a rightful place in this landscape,” said Julia Douglas, a Ph.D. student at the University of Hawaii, field botanist, former NTBG intern, and now research collaborator. “A deep in-situ environmental understanding of species is critical to being thoughtful stewards and conducting applicable conservation research,” she continued. 

Julia is part of a vast team of scientists, conservationists, volunteers, and supporters from various organizations across the state who have been astute and careful stewards of this incredibly rare species for the last five years. Known to have fewer than 30 individuals remaining in the wild until a 2016 discovery by Natalia Tangalin, former NTBG Living Collections botanist and field collector, Polyscias bisattenuata is a member of the ginseng family (Araliaceae), and also known by the Hawaiian names ohe mauka or ohe ohe. The attractive multi-trunked tree with captivating pink flowers and deep purple fruit is endemic to Kauai’s mesic and wet native forest and documented on the U.S. Federal Endangered Species List, and listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. 

In the fall of 2016, working with the support of a grant from the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Natalia discovered 34 new trees in four previously unknown populations. Her find created a rare opportunity and momentous effort to study, propagate, and establish a stable population of Polyscias bisattenuata in its natural habitat that five years on is making an impact. 

A RARE OPPORTUNITY

Like many native plants in Hawaii, protecting fruit and seeds from invasive predators is one of the greatest challenges to conservation success. Natalia’s discovery led to an all-hands-on-deck effort by NTBG Living Collections staff, volunteers, and interns to protect the fruit on the trees in hopes of collecting enough seed to study, store, and propagate. 

Upon learning of the need to protect Polyscias bisattenuata fruit, NTBG’s Oshibana volunteer craft group offered to design and sew rodent-resistant bags that could be secured over the fruit and branches of the tree to deter rats. After experimenting with many different materials and designs, two volunteers, Maryanne Nordwall and Joanne Watson settled on woven plastic mech sandbags which were easily available on Kauai, flexible, and most importantly unappealing to invasive predators. Together the volunteers sewed more than 100 bags of various sizes with velcro closures that allowed for secure fastening to tree branches and safety for the imperiled fruit. The protective bags worked well and shielded the fruit from rodents until maturity. Over multiple visits, Natalia, NTBG Living Collections field collectors, and KUPU members were able to return and collect more than 55,000 seeds, adding 50 accessions to NTBG’s living collections.  

SAVING SEEDS AND MAKING A COMEBACK

Once harvested seeds were brought back to the NTBG Nursery and Horticulture Center as well as the Seed Bank and Laboratory. Horticulture staff, volunteers, and interns began the monumental task of squeezing out seeds from thousands of fruits to be cleaned, sorted, counted, and potted within hand-built cages to protect from rats. Before long the NTBG nursery was filled with a bright green sea of seeds popping out of a perlite-vermiculite substrate. 

“With wild regeneration nearly absent, the burden of survival for this species and its unique sub-populations rests heavily on our Nursery team.”

“With wild regeneration nearly absent, the burden of survival for this species and its unique sub-populations rests heavily on our Nursery team,” states Kevin Houck, NTBG Plant Records Manager. “Dozens of germplasm accessions must be carefully propagated, tracked and nurtured to full vigor prior to outplanting.” 

The effort to propagate Polyscias bisattenuata was successful with a survival rate of nearly 80% for the young sprouts. In less than a year, the NTBG nursery grew more than 6,000 plants and transported more than 3,000  to ten reintroduction sites across eastern Kauai. Polyscias bisattenuata seeds were also stored for study at the NTBG Seed Bank and Laboratory and Lyon Arboretum at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. 

“Seed storage behavior of Polyscias bisattenuata remains uncertain but we are conducting germination testing of our seed accessions to ensure they remain viable and ready for future restoration work” says NTBG Seed Bank and Laboratory Manager, Dustin Wolkis.

SAFEGUARDING THE FUTURE

The 2017-2018 outplanting campaign was one of the largest outplanting events of any threatened plant species on Kauai. The chosen reintroduction sites represented a broad range of environmental conditions and microhabitats, and ongoing efforts today aim to discover more about the habitat requirements, reproduction biology, and population dynamics of this rare species.

“After outplanting, we wished the Polyscias bisattenuata luck and left them alone for two years without management,” said Julia. “But, in 2020 I received a grant from the Lyon Arboretum which funded the monitoring of the reintroduced saplings,” she concluded. Julia documented GPS coordinates and monitored the survival of the 2017 outplants. Of the reintroduction sites monitored in January 2020, survival rates ranged from 1% to 34%, which is really good considering this is an extremely rare plant whose habitat preference is unknown.

Inspired by Julia’s initial findings, NTBG applied for a larger science support grant from US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to continue the work together with a large team of researchers and collaborators from USFWS, US Geological Survey and PEPP – the Plant Extinction Prevention Program.  

“In order to better understand what determines outplanting success and improve the conservation plan of this species, we will continue extensive monitoring while also adding sampling to investigate the correlation of success with origin and genetics,” said Nina Rønsted, NTBG Director of Science and Conservation, who leads the project together with Julia and NTBG Living Collections Curator Mike DeMotta.

Monitoring of this species continued from November 2021 through January 2022 and approximately 430  plants were recorded alive by Julia, together with a large team of staff, students, and volunteers from both NTBG Living Collections, Science and Conservation, and Limahuli Garden and Preserve remarked Julia. “From the most recent monitoring campaign, we can conclude that most of the loss happened in the first few years. Many saplings are big enough to survive now and we have even observed the first flowering outplants, suggesting natural reproduction is likely to happen, which is really amazing,” exclaimed Julia.

With the success of Polyscias bisattenuata conservation efforts so far, NTBG and collaborators can see hope on the horizon. Additional monitoring and outplanting campaigns are planned, but that doesn’t mean all challenges to the survival of Polyscias bisattenuata have gone. “Rodent predation is still a threat and we need to establish fencing or other protective measures before much more outplanting can be done,” noted Nina.

Until then, it’s hard not to feel hopeful about what the future holds for Polyscias bisattenuata.

“The experience of participating in the planting and monitoring the success of the reintroduction of the ohe mauka has given me hope that with sufficient effort and subsequent rounds of reintroduction and monitoring, this unique component of Kauai’s forest mosaic might be saved from extinction.”

“The experience of participating in the planting and monitoring the success of the reintroduction of the ohe mauka has given me hope that with sufficient effort and subsequent rounds of reintroduction and monitoring, this unique component of Kauai’s forest mosaic might be saved from extinction,” said Julia

Back on that steep montane slope, the tradewinds sound just a little more musical through the clattering leaves of Polyscias bisattenuata trees and carry an unmistakable note of strength and hope. 

Hear more about this project directly from our scientists in our webinar: Conservation and Restoration of Endangered Trees.

About NTBG

National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is a not-for-profit institution, dedicated to discovering, saving, and studying the world’s tropical plants and sharing what is learned.

Our network of five botanical gardens, preserves and research facilities encompasses nearly 2,000 acres with locations in Hawaii and Florida. Thousands of species from throughout the tropical world have been gathered, through field expeditions, collaborations with other institutions and researchers, to form a living collection that is unparalleled anywhere.

Our collection includes the largest assemblages of native Hawaiian plant species and breadfruit cultivars in existence. Many of the species in our collections are threatened and endangered or have disappeared from their native habitats. In our preserves and beyond our gardens, NTBG is working to restore habitats and save plants facing extinction.

Our gardens and preserves are living laboratories and classrooms for staff scientists, researchers, students and visitors from all over the world. You’re invited to be a part of our team. Help us save plants and make a difference by joining as a member!  Sign up by May 31, 2022, for a chance to win a VIP experience. 

Acknowledgments

Kalaheo, Hawaii (April 5, 2022)—The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) has awarded Dr. Sandra Knapp, a tropical botanist and researcher at the Natural History Museum, London the 2022 David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration. The medal has been awarded annually since 1999 to individuals who have demonstrated service to humanity in exploring remote areas of the world to advance plant discovery, the cultivation of new and important plants, and the conservation of rare or endangered plant species.

The medal was presented to Dr. Knapp on April 6 in a ceremony at The Kampong, NTBG’s garden located in Coconut Grove, Florida and former residence of renowned explorer and botanist Dr. David G. Fairchild.

Dr. Knapp is best known as one of the world’s leading specialists in the taxonomy, crop diversity, and ethnobotanic uses of the Solanaceae, a family that includes tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, tobacco, and mandrakes.

Born in Oakland, California and raised in New Mexico, Sandra Knapp was introduced to field botany as an undergraduate at Pomona College in the 1970s. It only took one visit to the desert with a microscope in hand for her to realize that she wanted to dedicate her life to fieldwork and the study of plants. Sandra Knapp went on to study at the University of California, Irvine (’78-’79) before earning a PhD. from Cornell University (’85). Dr. Knapp’s doctoral dissertation was titled A Revision of Solanum section Geminata. She studied under the late Dr. M. D. Whalen who she thanks for first suggesting that she study Solanum.

Upon graduating, Dr. Knapp taught biology, taxonomy, and phytogeography as a teaching assistant at Cornell before embarking on four decades of field research, primarily in Central and South America as well as in China and Uganda.

In 1992, Dr. Knapp joined the Natural History Museum as a senior scientific officer in the Botany Department. Her career with the museum has continued and evolved from research botanist to individual merit researcher (level 2) today. She has also served as head of the museum’s Plants Division (2012-2019).

Over the course of her career, Dr. Knapp has contributed to Flora Mesoamericana and is the founder and curator of the online resource Solanaceae Source. She has described over 100 new plant species, authored more than 270 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and written, edited, or contributed to 30 scientific and popular books about plant exploration, discovery, and botany. She is the author of the forthcoming book In the Name of Plants: From Attenborough to Washington, the People Behind Plant Names (University of Chicago Press). From 2018 to 2022, Dr. Knapp has served as the president of the Linnean Society of London.

Dr. Knapp has broad experience as a field explorer, research botanist, taxonomist, educator, and active member of numerous academic and scientific bodies including appointments to the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Fauna and Flora International, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Harvard University Herbaria external review board, and others.

She is also an enthusiastic science communicator, editor, and author who believes that all people have the potential to be naturalists by being keen observers and thinkers engaged with the natural world and their own surroundings.

As an avid public speaker, Dr. Knapp has lectured widely for public and professional audiences and on panels for the United Nations Climate Conference, the Natural History Museum, the Royal Institution, the BBC, and other scientific and educational venues.

Dr. Knapp is a firm believer in initiating conversations about science and being open-minded to new ideas and different perspectives. She says science communications is about “having a conversation and arriving sometimes at a place that you the scientist didn’t think you would arrive at.” The important thing, she says, is to start that conversation.

One of Dr. Knapp’s colleagues, Dr. Jan Salick, senior curator emerita with the Missouri Botanical Garden, described her as a “most valued friend.” She recalled meeting Sandra Knapp while both were
attending graduate school at Cornell University. On one occasion, Dr. Salick invited Dr. Knapp to join her on a collecting expedition in the jungles of the Amazon headwaters. Dr. Salick recalls how despite both of them being pregnant at the time, they paddled on rafts and dugout canoes down Rio Palcazú and its tributaries, interviewed shamans and Indigenous women about traditional knowledge of cassava (yuca), and how Dr. Knapp found a new species of Solanum on that same trip.

Dr. Knapp was nominated for the Fairchild Medal by NTBG’s science and conservation director Dr. Nina Rønsted who described her as “passionately and deeply engaged in a plethora of areas and international organizations devoted to plant systematics, fieldwork, crop science, and more.”

Dr. Rønsted called Dr. Knapp an “inspiration to a generation of scientists, students, practitioners, and plant enthusiasts,” adding that she has contributed to a greater understanding of the importance of saving the world’s plants.

Upon learning that she had been named as recipient of the 2022 Fairchild Medal, Dr. Knapp admitted her surprise, calling the award an “incredible honor.”

The David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration is named for one of the most influential horticulturists and plant collectors in American history. Dr. Fairchild devoted his life to plant exploration, searching the world for useful plants suitable for introduction into the country. As an early “Indiana Jones” type explorer, he conducted field trips throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, the South Pacific, the Caribbean, South America, the Middle East, and East and South Africa during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

These explorations resulted in the introduction of many tropical plants of economic importance to the U.S., including sorghum, nectarines, avocadoes, hops, unique species of bamboo, dates, and varieties of mangoes.

In addition, as director of the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the early 20th Century, Dr. Fairchild was instrumental in the introduction of more than 5,000 selected varieties and species of useful plants, such as Durum wheat, Japanese varieties of rice, Sudan grass, Chinese soybeans, Chinese elms, persimmons, and pistachios.

Fairchild and his wife, Marian Bell Fairchild, daughter of inventor Alexander Graham Bell, purchased property in South Florida in 1916 and created both a home and an “introduction garden” for plant species found on his expeditions. He named the property “The Kampong,” the Malay word for “village.”

The tropical species Fairchild collected from Southeast Asia in the 1930s and 1940s are still part of the heritage collections of The Kampong. The property is the only U.S. mainland garden owned by NTBG, which has four gardens and five preserves in Hawaii. The organization is dedicated to conservation, research, and education relating to the world’s rare and endangered tropical plants.

Media contact: media@ntbg.org

National Tropical Botanical Garden (ntbg.org) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental institution with nearly 2,000 acres of gardens and preserves in Hawaii and Florida. The institution’s mission is to enrich life through discovery, scientific research, conservation, and education by perpetuating the survival of plants, ecosystems, and cultural knowledge of tropical regions. NTBG is supported primarily through donations, grants, and memberships.

Since 1999, the National Tropical Botanical Garden has recognized exceptional botanists, horticulturists, and explorers by awarding them the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration.

On April 6, 2022, Dr. Sandra Knapp of the Natural History Museum (London), will be presented with the medal at a ceremony at NTBG’s Miami garden, The Kampong. Dr. Knapp is best known as a specialist in the taxonomy, crop diversity, and ethnobotanic uses of the Solanaceae, a family that includes tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, tobacco, and mandrakes.

Dr. Knapp has over four decades of experience botanizing in Central and South America as well as Africa and China and is a contributor to Flora Mesoamericana and the founder/curator of Solanaceae Source. She has described over 100 new plant species, authored more than 270 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and has written, edited, or contributed to 30 scientific and popular books about plant exploration, discovery, and botany. From 2018 to 2022, Dr. Knapp served as the president of the Linnean Society of London.

Dr. Knapp spoke with NTBG in January from her home in London. An edited and condensed version of that conversation follows below.

NTBG: Congratulations on being named recipient of the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration.

Sandra Knapp: Thank you. It was a real surprise. I thought, “What? This is crazy! There must be some mistake.” But it’s an incredible honor because David Fairchild was an extraordinary person.

You’ve spent much of your career studying Solanaceae. Why have you focused on this group of plants?

At Cornell University, my major professor Michael D. Whalen said I should study the genus Solanum and go to the tropics. I wanted to go to the desert, but I went to Costa Rica and that was it. I was completely hooked. I fell in love with the tropics and the wonderful, massive, incredible diversity that’s all around. I started looking at solanums and there were lots that didn’t have names but they were all clearly different. Nobody had worked on the taxonomy of them so I thought, “OK, maybe I can do Solanum.” There was no looking back. I just got deeper and deeper into Solanum.

What exactly attracted you to this family of plants?

The Solanaceae are amazing because they’re well-known both as things that we love to eat— tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants—but also as plants that can kill us, like nightshades and tobacco. They are inextricably linked with people. It’s just fascinating because people have found uses for so many Solanaceae. You can pick fruits and eat them. But all of these poisons, medicines, and psychoactive drugs—that requires a certain amount of experimentation which is pretty dangerous, really. It is absolutely fascinating that within this one small family there are all these uses.

The other thing that is amazing about Solanaceae is that it’s a medium-sized family that only has about 4,000 species, it’s not a monster like the daisies or the orchids. But half the species diversity of the family is composed of a single genus, Solanum, which is one of the top ten most species-rich genera of flowering plants. That’s pretty amazing. It’s one of maybe ten or fifteen genera which have more than a thousand species. Solanum, at our current estimate, will soon have 1,250 species. One of the things that grabbed me is—why are there so many of these species of Solanum? To even begin to answer that question, you need to figure out what the species are and nobody had done that since the 19th century. People keep asking “haven’t you figured it out yet?” My answer is, no, we’re getting there though.

Can you talk about the loss of biodiversity as it relates to Solanaceae?

The majority of species diversity of Solanum is in South America. So you would expect that the highest speciation rates, the highest diversification rates, would be there as well. Well, it turns out it’s the exact opposite. The highest diversification rates are in places like Australia and Africa, and they seem to be correlated with the Miocene aridification of those continents. The changing landscape helped Solanum in those areas invade new territories and have explosive speciation.

Climate change and environmental change can work both ways. Aridification is often bad for plants, but it depends on the plant. The lineage of Solanum that made it to Australia is very dry- adapted and it just went berserk and diversified. Still not as many species as in South America, but they’re all each other’s closest relatives. Then there are other species which have very narrow ranges, in the páramos and other high areas in the Andes, where the tree line is going up and so those species are at risk from climate change. But actually, the biggest driver of change is us, it’s humans—our modification of the landscape.

What about the loss of traditional plant knowledge?

A lot of the traditional knowledge about Solanaceae is actually global traditional knowledge now because these are world-wide crops and much is widely known. There is traditional knowledge about Solanaceae that I know nothing about. I am sure that there is also traditional knowledge that is held by very few people. But as Indigenous peoples become threatened themselves, and as languages become threatened as well, a lot of that plant knowledge is bound up in the language and when language becomes at risk, then the knowledge becomes at risk.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a profoundly harmful impact on people around the world. It has also disrupted so much of our personal and professional lives. Can you find any kind of silver lining in this?

One of the silver linings is that with regards to herbaria and collections, it’s becoming clearer that if your collections are online, people will use them. That’s always kind of been true, but when we’re all stuck at home, trying to do our work at home, having literature online through the Biodiversity Heritage Library and having herbarium specimen images online is an absolute godsend. That didn’t come with the pandemic, but I think the pandemic has provided impetus for people to accelerate digital access.

Regarding the pandemic, as it relates to the understanding and the importance of preserving plants, how do you make a connection?

I actually think that the pandemic, and the fact that it is the result of an interaction between humans and the natural world, makes it ever more important that we study, understand, and preserve the natural world so that there are places for nature to thrive. Human beings are an invasive mammalian weed. We are the epitome of a weedy species. We go everywhere. We grow everywhere. We reproduce fast. We can adapt to all kinds of climates and places. We’re the most successful weed on the planet. If you think about human beings as a weed, weeds are a threat. Human beings are a threat. And when weeds come in contact with particular pests or can pick up genes that are problematic, then it becomes a problem. The same is true with viruses and us. This is hardly a surprise, to be honest.

Do you think scientific organizations, botanical gardens, museums, or the media in general are doing a good job of communicating the importance of science, and plants in particular?

I think this is one of the things that we all struggle with, and all of us are trying and doing as best we can, but I think there are many things we could do better. One of those is having a conversation rather than just giving information, because bringing people along is about acknowledging that they have views that might be different from our own and being open to that conversation. One thing that often happens in science education is people think of it as a one-way street. “We will communicate our science to this public and then they will understand.” Well, it doesn’t work like that. It’s much more about having a conversation and arriving sometimes at a place that you, the scientist, didn’t think about at the onset.

Also, being willing to say that you’re wrong or that you don’t understand or don’t know is crucial. I think as scientists—and I know I do this—it’s almost as a knee-jerk thing to avoid this, I worry about saying something because I might be wrong. But actually, that doesn’t matter. The really important thing is to start a conversation, because that’s where you begin to look at the world through somebody else’s eyes and that then changes your own world view.

Science itself can’t exist in a vacuum because science is part of society. It doesn’t exist as separate from society. Some people might consider advocacy about climate change to be political. What’s considered political is really, in a way, a matter of opinion. Scientists are part of society, and they need to be concerned with societal issues. And sometimes it can be quite uncomfortable.

Can you talk about how you communicate science at the Natural History Museum?

I am proud of my own institution for creating a strategy which is about creating advocates for the planet. Yes, we do good science and yes have great collections—but our mission is to create advocates for the planet. We use our collections and the science we do with them to do that. People who are vocal supporters of the natural world is our long-term goal.

You mean to get everybody involved?

Everybody’s a natural historian, really. Everybody is interested in pebbles and things that they pick up as they walk around their neighborhoods. But it can be frowned upon in scientific circles because it’s not “scientific.” But actually, it is scientific. If you go out in the forest and collect a plant, you make a hypothesis that it might be ‘species X’ and then you use evidence to disprove that or perhaps that evidence supports your idea. Somehow this has been lost, the fact that natural history—just observing and documenting the world around us—is hypothesis-driven.

You are just the third woman to receive the Fairchild Medal. What are your thoughts on this imbalance?

I’ve been compiling the gender statistics for the medals for the Linnean Society, it’s actually quite shocking. Mostly men get nominated so it’s not really surprising that medals often go to men, but why is that? I don’t know. The times are changing. I am the third female president of the Linnean Society which dates from 1788 so I am the 53rd president, or something like that. But only the third woman, but my successor is also a woman, so change is happening. What I think will be really interesting is if we can look back in twenty years’ time and see if the graph of medal awards changes. What we should be is fifty-fifty, really. Excellence doesn’t have gender.

Can you talk about how field work has changed since you first started as a botanist?

People don’t go in the field by themselves anymore. We go into the field with a colleague or with our local counterparts, say from an institution from South America or in Africa. I think that’s a really good thing because when you do, relationships begin with local scientists from those countries which then levels up science and allows people to share in a much more equitable way than happened in the past. Parachute science, where collectors and explorers went in and took, as happened in colonial times, certainly should be a thing of the past.

Last question. Do you think the botany and natural history of Central and South America offer an avenue for increased interest and a greater understanding for that part of the world?

Yes, the Americas are an absolutely extraordinary set of continents and understanding their sheer diversity is part and parcel of understanding the world. Many of our crops come from Eurasia, but others are American in origin. Thinking about centers of crop plant origin is interesting in this context because if you look at crop plants that are essential to diets in the United States, they’ve all—except for the sunflower—come from outside of North America. If you took everything that didn’t originate in the United States, you’d be left with very little; David Fairchild had a real hand in this diversity of crops in the United States that now seems to be integral to US agriculture.

Globalization is often perceived as a really bad thing, but it has gotten us to where we are and it has been happening for a long time—long before European colonization of the Americas. For me it presents a huge and uncomfortable paradox. How can we accept the fact that the foods that we eat, the food that we love, the foods that we think of as being indigenous to ourselves, actually come from somewhere else, but then, at the same time, not accept people from those other places. Why is it “food good, people bad”? It’s very Animal Farm-y and kind of Orwellian in a slightly odd way.

Our diets across the globe are becoming much more diverse so we’re eating lots of different things. But we’re all, across the world, eating much more of the same things. So regionalization of diets is disappearing but we’re all eating more different things in part because of the ease of transport and global markets and all this other stuff. It may all change if we’re unable or unwilling to transport snow peas from Kenya or cherries and apples from Chile in the non-apple season for the northern hemisphere, as global events and our concern for the climate coincide.