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What Is This? Wood Fern
August 18, 2016 | Filed under: Island Science and tagged with: Island Science, Maria Mitchell IN THIS ISSUE
Association, nature
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The Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) biological collections oldest
specimen is the Wood Fern (pictured above). Maria Louisa Owen, an Whirligigs Antiques
expert in mosses and moss-like plants, collected this fern in 1879. This Snippets
was during the height of Pteridomania also known as the Victo- rian
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fern craze which was sweeping across Europe and America.
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Maria Mitchell, the first woman astronomer in the U.S., was alive during Camp Scholarship in
this craze and may have had a few fern-inspired decorations of her own. Memory of Son
The fern mania of the 1800s was popular across gender, age, and social
Yesterdays Island
class. Ferns started appearing in and on dcor of many types including
architectural design, papers, textiles, china and glassware, gravestones, 2016 Photo Contest

greeting cards, and other decorative pieces. There are over twenty-five Annual Harvest Fair at
species of ferns in the MMA collection. When you open the doors of the
the Old Mill
cabinets to the historical collections themselves, you are immersed in a
A True Nantucket
floral aroma. With fauna spanning over 137 years ( 1879-2016), there is a
variety of colors, textures, and smells hidden within the manila folders. Tragedy

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The biological collections at the MMA include more than 4,000 plants
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representing 1,223 species. The MMAs herbarium (the plant collection) is
one of the most used collections in the Science Museum. Researchers add Nantucket
specimens each year, visit the collection to check identifications, and even
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take small samples for genetic studies. Recent work involves genetic
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analysis with Queen Annes Lace and Spotted Knapweed. The Nantucket
Conservation Foundation and the Linda Loring Nature Foundation are Yesterdays
working together to update the list of all plant species on the island and Island/Todays
any collected specimens are donated to the MMA.
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Next time you are out for a walk,take a scratch-and-sniff tour of
Nantuckets botany. The island is home to a variety of diverse plant Limerick Challenge
species. Listed below are some that will excite your olfactory senses.

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Bayberry (Morella pensylvanica) is an upright shrub that grows from five DEPARTMENT
to eight feet in height. The flowers bloom in early spring, and the female Exploring Nantucket
plants produce small greyish-blue fruit in the fall. The bayberry is a strong
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scented fruit that was originally a source of pleasant smelling wax candles
for early settlers; the scent of the bayberry is still used in candle making Featured Entrepreneur

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Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), like the gum flavor, has a sweet
and spicy mint smell. The plant is a creeper (growing low along the Island Cooking

ground) with oval leaves which are a dark green with a glossy sheen. In Island Science
the autumn, the leaves turn to red or bronze.
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The Slender fragrant Goldenrod, Euthamia caroliniana, is an herb that
gives off a strong odor of paint thinner when the leaves are crushed. In Entertaining

the late summer and fall, yellow flowers cover the top of these plants. Nantucket Essays
Other scents like Sassafras, which is spicy and fragrant, or Sweet fern are
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easy to find if your senses are turned on.
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Nantucket is prodigious in its plant species some invasive and others People
with healing properties. Transferred by bird excrement, or soil and human Nantucket Style
migration, many plants on Nantucket are non-native species. One of those
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is the Purple Loosestrife, or Lythrum salicaria, a purple perennial plant
that grows in wetlands. One purple loosestrife plant can produce two
million seeds annually, which are easily dispersed by water, livestock, LIKE US ON
people, and aquatic life. The invasion of the purple loosestrife in FACEBOOK

Nantucket wetlands often suppresses the plants native to the area and
alters the wetland ecosystem; there is no effective method to control the ARTICLES BY DATE

spread of this invasive species. FROM 2012

Articles by Date from
2012
Spotted jewelweed, Impatiens capensis, is a tall leafy plant with
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translucent stems and orange flowers with red splotches. The pods on the
flowers explode and disperse seeds when touched which explains their
ARTICLES 2007-
nickname: touch-me-nots. The spotted jewelweed grows in a variety of
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environments and contains properties that relieve the itchy symptoms of
2007-2011 Featured
poison ivy. Between invasive species and natures healing properties,
Nantuckets fauna has a lot to offer (including inspiration for Victorian art Articles

crazes and a variety of smells). Nantucket is a great place to explore 2007-2011 Island
botany both for beginners and experts, says Andrew Mckenna-Foster, Science
Director of Natural Sciences at the MMA. There are lots of berry
2007-2011 Nantucket
producing plants and aromatic plants for novices and some species that
are hard to find regionally, but common here for the seasoned botanist. Essays

2007-2011 Nantucket
If youd like to see some of the historic plant specimen collection at the
Island Cooking
Hinchman House Natural Science Museum, stop by 7 Milk Street. The
2010 Nantucket Island
MMA was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Maria Mitchell and to
promote her belief in learningby- doing. An astronomer and natural Memories

scientist, as well as an educator, Maria Mitchell shot to worldwide fame Archived Nantucket
when she discovered a comet in 1847. For her discovery, she was awarded
Articles 2007 2011
a gold medal from the King of Denmark the first American and first
woman to receive the honor. She served as the Professor of Astronomy
and Mathematics at Vassar College from 1865 until 1888. Today, the MMA
operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, and
the birthplace of Maria Mitchell. The MMA conducts scientific research,
leads classes and workshops for people of all ages year-round, and
welcomes thousands of visitors to its museums and observatories. For
details, visit mariamitchell.org.

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