Asst. Professor, Plant Systematics

George Mason University

 

 
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PICTURES:

Shenandaoh National Park: BIOL 345 (Plant Ecology) class trip, October 2009

Class photo on summit of Hawksbill Mountain. Top row: Chris, John, Lyana, Garrett. Middle: EJ, Anna, Rosalind, JP, Sean. Bottom: Me View from the summit, looking west.
Hydrangea cinerea (Ashy Hydrangea) at Dark Hollow Falls . Hydrangea cinerea (Ashy Hydrangea) infructescence.

Delmarva Peninsula: Sara's Kosteletzkya pentacarpos collecting trip, August 2009

Kosteletzyka pentacarpos, the Virginia Saltmarsh Mallow. Sara collecting in Delaware. Kristen and Sara pressing specimens.
Sara collecting in Dorchester Co., Maryland near Taylor's Island. Interesting color morphs of K. pentacarpos.
Visiting Jack Gallagher's lab at the University of Delaware. Visiting the experimental field plot of K. pentacarpos at the University of Delaware.

 

Snowbird, Utah: Botany 2009 Meetings, July 2009

Kristen presented her Master's thesis at the conference. In this photo, we're holding snowballs. Catherine Pass in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah.
Rosy Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja rhexifolia) Leafy Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium foliossimum)
Richardon geranium (Geranium richardsonii). Sticky Indian Paintbrush (C. appllegatei) and Leafy Jacob's Ladder Tolmie owl clover (Orthocarpus tolmei)

 

Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: International Biogeography Conference, January 2009

Violaceous Trogon Strangler Fig and Andrea. Strong Billed Woodcreeper

 

Bursera simaruba fruit . Unidentified bee robbing pollen from legume buds.
Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, looking south. Atlantic Ocean on left, estuary on right. In estuary, red mangrove and sawgrass in foreground, hummock forest in background.

 

Bromeliad on flowering red mangrove. Stork Fresh water channel through mangroves over limestone.
Bletia sp. orchid. Poisonwood, Metopium sp., a relative of poison-ivy. Sub-humid forest of Cobá, sitting on a Post-Classical Mayan temple.

 

Namibia: Collecting Commiphora, January 2007

Andrea with Welwitschia mirabilis in the Namib desert. Commiphora glaucescens near Solitaire.
Commiphora giessi in Kaokoland. Commiphora saxicola near Brandberg (shrub)
Commiphora dinteri in the Namib desert. Commiphora saxicola in Kaokoland (tree) .
Commiphora namaensis near Orange River. Giant red sand dunes at Sossusvlei.
Lions sleeping in the road. Elephants at a water hole.
Commiphora gracilifrondosa Commiphora crenato-serrata

 

Maryland: Suitland Magnolia Bog, September 2006

Sarracenia purpurea (Sarraceniaceae) Osmunda cinnamomea (Osmundaceae)
Sarracenia and Eriocaulon decangulare (Ericocaulaceae) Virginia valeriae valeriae (Smooth Earth Snake) . I found two of these together on Smilax vines.
Viburnum nudum (Adoxaceae) Toxicodendron vernix (Anacardiaceae)

 

Tennessee: Smoky Mountains, April 2006

View of heath-balds on rockslides, remnants of dead and dying Abies fraseri and Picea rubens visible . Hardwood cove-forest, never logged.
Massive individuals of buckeye, Aesculus flava (Hippocastanaceae), grow in cove forests. An understory herb of the cove forest, Cardamine concatenata (Brassicaceae).
An other understory herb, Claytonia virginica (Portulaceae). A mesic hillside with Hepatica nobilis (Ranunculaceae), and the plantain-leaf sedge, Carex racemosa (Cyperaceae)
Viola rotundifolia (Violaceae) The water of the streams was remarkably clear.
Beautiful lichens of the heath balds.

Lichens and bryophyte of the heath balds.

Foliose bryophyte of the heath bald understory. Trunks of Rhododendron spp. visible in top left corner.

Beech gap forest (Fagus grandifolia) with Claytonia understory.

 

Viola rostrata (Violaceae) , note long floral spur. Viola canadensis (Violaceae)
Nurse log in spruce forest holding seedlings of hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). Hepatica nobilis (Ranunculaceae).
Phacelia fimbriata (Hydrophyllaceae). Another view of a heath bald.

 

Puerto Rico: Tropical Dry Forest, Guanica Biosphere Reserve, November 2005

 
Located in SW Puerto Rico, Guanica is a both a state forest and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is a dry tropical forest home to endemic species of nightjars, woodpeckers, crested toads, and lizards.

My hosts from the University of Puerto Rico-Cayey: (L to R): Jose, Marcos Echegaray, Carlos Ricart, Harry Lopez. My field assistant: Glenn Montague.

Swietenia mahagoni (Mahogany; Meliaceae) capsules and winged seeds. It is a naturalized species in Puerto Rico. Guaiacum officinale (Lignum-vitae, Zygophyllaceae) dehisced fruit revealing red-colored aril.
View from Guanica showing range of habitats: low-stature woodlands to coastal plain. South America is beyond the horizon. Bursera simaruba (Almacigo; Burseraceae) is common in Guanica.
The coastal area of Guanica is uplifted ancient coral reef and extremely xeric. Asclepias purpurea (Milkweed; Asclepiadaceae) is a ca. 2 m woody perennial that grows in these coastal areas.
Margins of the sea subject to sea spray. Sesuvium portulacastrum in foreground. Close-up of succulent Sesuvium portulacastrum (Aizoaceae).
Melocactus intortus (Cactaceae) growing directly on limestone among low-growing button-wood mangrove bushes. Melocactus pushes its fruits up and out of the cephalium. They wind up resting on the spines or being eaten by birds (or botanists).
Close up of Conocarpus erectus (Button-wood mangrove, Combretaceae) and its button-like fruits. Endemic Puerto Rican Blue Tailed Ameiva (Teiidae, Ameiva wetmorei).

Puerto Rico: Tropical Rain Forest, El Yunque National Forest, November 2005

El Yunque, Caribbean National Forest is located in NE Puerto Rico. This is a view of one of the mountains within the park from mid elevation. Notice tree ferns in lower left. Forest within the park is stratified by elevation in four major groups: Tabonuco forest, Palo Colorado forest, Sierra Palm forest, and Cloud forest.
A young Dacryodes excelsa (Tabonuco, Burseraceae). Large terrestrial Camaenid snails.
Typical circinnate vernation of tree fern, Cyathea arborea (Cyatheaceae). Arboreal snail Gaeotis flavolineata. Notice its highly reduced shell.
Mt. Britton is named after a US botanist who collected in the area. It crosses through the Sierra Palm Forest into the Cloud Forest. Upper reaches of Sierra Palm (Prestoea montana, Palmae) forest
Ipomoea repanda (Bejuco colorado, Convolvulaceae).  
Fruit/Infloresence of Ficus (Fig, Moraceae) in cross-section, showing arrangement of white male flowers and tiny brown female flowers. Its pollination is dependent on wasps, whose larvae consume fig seeds. Reaching the summit of Mt. Britton in the clouds.
Andrea at the summit. Peaks of other mountains can be seen beyond. Looking down at clouds rushing over the mountain sides.