1 / 10

W.J. Beal’s Long-Term Seed Viability Study: 1879-2012

W.J. Beal’s Long-Term Seed Viability Study: 1879-2012. Frank W. Telewski Professor, Dept. of Plant Biology Curator, W. J. Beal Botanical Garden & Campus Arboretum Michigan State University. Professor William James Beal, born March 11, 1833, Adrian, Michigan; died 1924.

phailin
Download Presentation

W.J. Beal’s Long-Term Seed Viability Study: 1879-2012

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. W.J. Beal’s Long-Term Seed Viability Study:1879-2012 Frank W. Telewski Professor, Dept. of Plant Biology Curator, W. J. Beal Botanical Garden & Campus Arboretum Michigan State University

  2. Professor William James Beal, born March 11, 1833, Adrian, Michigan; died 1924. Attended Univ. of Michigan 1855-1859 (A.B. degree) Taught natural sciences in Friend’s Academy, Union Springs, NY 1895-1861 Attended Harvard 1861-1863 to study with Asa Gray, Louis Agassiz and Jeffried Wyman (S.B. degree)

  3. Question: How long can seeds remain viable in the soil? • Farmers needed weed control • Mechanical removal (cultivation) • No herbicides! • Labor intensive

  4. Experimental Design • 21 different species selected • 50 seeds of each • Mixed in moderately moist sand • Twenty lots (1-pint bottles filled with mix) • Set upside-down, slanted, and buried uncorked on campus • 2 species, oak and black walnut buried next to the bottles

  5. In 1879 Prof. Beal buried 20 bottles containing 20 species of seed.

  6. What was included in the bottles? Plantago major- broadleaved plantain Polygonumhydropiper- marshpepper knotweed Portulacaoleracea- Common Purslane Setariaglauca- yellow foxtail Stellaria media- chickweed Trifolium repens- white clover Verbascumthapsus- common mullein (Verbascumblattaria- moth mullein) Oenotherabiennnis- evening primrose Rumexcrispus- curly dock Thujaoccidentalis- eastern white cedar • Agrostemmagithago- corncockle • Amaranthusretroflexus- pigweed • Ambrosia artemisifolia- ragweed • Anthemiscotula- stinking chamomile • Brassicanigra- black mustard • Bromussecalinus- rye brome • Capsella bursa-pastoris-shepherd's-purse • Erechtiteshieracifolia- American burnweed • Euphorbia maculata- spotted spurge • Lepidiumvirginicum- peppergrass • Malvarotundifolia- Round-leaved Mallow

  7. Time Periods • Professor Beal (five years)- 1884-1909 • Professor Darlington (five years)- 1914-1920 • Professor Darlington (ten years)- 1930-1960 • Drs. Kivilaan and Bandurski- (ten years) 1970-1980 • Drs. Telewski and Zeevaart- (20 years) 2000

  8. What Germinated? • After first 5 years, 13 species germinated • Remained fairly constant until 30th year • By 60th year, only Verbascum was germinating regularly. • In year 100, both Verbascum and Malva germinated

  9. What Germinated in 2000? 25 Verbascumblattaria (50%) 1 Malvarotundifolia (2%) 5 more bottles left. Next bottle to be extracted? 2020 122 year-old biennials

  10. In 1998, 125th anniversary of the founding of the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, a new garden logo using the moth mullein flower to symbolize the contribution and longevity of Prof. Beal’s work, was adopted.

More Related