July 2024

Hikers who make it above tree line of the higher summits of the Rocky Mountains in summer are rewarded with dazzling displays of alpine wildflowers. One of the showier species is sky-pilot or sticky polemonium (Polemonium viscosum), characterized by its ball-like cluster of blue-purple bell-shaped flowers borne above extremely sticky pinnately divided leaves. More often […]

The Ownbey Herbarium contains more than 415,000 specimens of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens. Over 1,500 of these specimens are “types”, which were formally designated by the authors of a new species as the best (most typical) representation of that species. Taxonomists studying plant diversity refer to types when reclassifying organisms or inferring evolutionary relationships. […]