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NYMF Receives Grant to Study Willows (Salix) and Gingseng (Aralia)
June 2004
In June 2004, the New York Metropolitan Flora project (NYMF) received a grant of $25,000 from the Eppley Foundation for Research to study the taxonomy and floristics of willow (Salix) and ginseng (Aralia) species in the region. The focus of this research on Salix and Aralia is to determine the extent to which populations of nonnative species of both are displacing populations of native species.
NYMF is BBG's study of plant biodiversity in the New York metropolitan area, which seeks to catalog all vascular plant life within a 50-mile radius of the city, and compare current data with historical data to ascertain changes in the area's flora. One of the most significant trends that NYMF has documented is the rapid spread and increase of nonnative species and a concomitant decline of native plant species. The issues of misidentification of nonnative and native species in Salix and Aralia exemplify this problem.
Willows are placed in the genus Salix in the willow family (Salicaceae). (Salix contains the aspirinlike compound salicylic acid, and in the past the plant's bark was used to reduce swelling and fever.) NYMF has reported 20 species in the region, of which one third (7 species) are not native. The most widely recognized local species are the nonnative pussy willows used by florists (S. atrocinerea, S. caprea, S. cinerea) and the commonly planted nonnative weeping willow (S. babylonica).
The genus Aralia is placed in the ginseng family (Araliaceae). (Extracts from the plant have been used in medicine and in beverage flavoring, e.g., sarsaparilla). Aralia includes about 35 species of trees, shrubs, and herbs from Asia and North America. NYMF has reported five species, three herbs (A. hispida, A. nudicaulis, A. racemosa) and two shrubs (A. spinosa, A. elata). All species are native to the U.S. except A. elata.
In both Salix and Aralia, there has been frequent misidentification of nonnative species as native species. For example, two nonnative pussy willow species (Salix atrocinerea, S. cinerea) are commonly misidentified as our native Salix discolor. In Aralia, the nonnative A. elata is commonly misidentified as the native A. spinosa. Such misidentifications make it difficult to assess the extent to which nonnative species have become established in the area. This misidentified nonnative material may be even used as seed sources for "native" species mixes for restoration plantings.
With funding from the Eppley Foundation for Research, NYMF scientists will be able to address this problem in Salix and Aralia, with the goal of providing a better understanding of the distribution and abundance of the region's native and nonnative species of both. Through fieldwork, NYMF will make extensive collections of both species and then carefully study and identify these specimens. Fieldwork will be complemented by studies of existing collections of both species currently maintained at other regional herbaria. Using these results, we will prepare revised distribution maps for Salix and Aralia. Our findings will be shared with local environmental and conservation officials working to curtail the spread of invasive species in the New York metropolitan area and beyond. This project will be primarily conducted by BBG scientists Dr. Jinshuang Ma and Steven Glenn, with assistance by Drs. Kerry Barringer and Gerry Moore. BBG is grateful to the Eppley Foundation for Research for funding this important research.