For ANHC Botanist, Diana Soteropoulos, working in the ANHC Herbarium is a regular occurrence. Over the holidays, it became a family affair.

Diana’s parents, Linda and Edwin Soteropoulos, as well as her partner, Joe Ledvina, cut and affixed labels to mounted herbarium specimens from Pine City Natural Area (NA). Diana and Joe had collected this specific group of specimens from 2018 to 2019 as part of Diana’s doctoral dissertation. Diana and Joe collected approximately 1,200 specimens of over 570 species that document the vascular plant community growing at the natural area and surrounding areas of interest.

While volunteering in the herbarium, the group cut around 500 labels which were then paired with specimens. The group also affixed labels to over 200 mounted specimens. Herbarium volunteer and Central Arkansas Master Naturalist, Karen Seale, joined Diana’s family for the special workday.

Pine City NA provides vital habitat for the only known population of the federally listed endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Dryobates borealis, RCW) in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain of Arkansas. Natural communities at Pine City NA include loblolly pine-post oak flatwoods, wet oak flatwoods, and saline barrens. Read more about Pine City NA.

The ANHC maintains one of 10 herbaria in the state registered with the Index Herbariorum (IH), the official database of worldwide herbaria. A herbarium, like a library, is a collection of preserved plants that are stored, cataloged, and arranged systematically for study.  Read more about the ANHC Herbarium.

Photos:
Top — Compactor shelves in the ANHC Herbarium that are used for storing specimens. Photo by ANHC staff.

Bottom — Loblolly pine-post oak flatwoods habitat at Pine City Natural Area. These flatwoods have an open canopy maintained by salty soils and prescribed fire. The open canopy supports a lush, diverse, herbacious understory. The loblolly pine trees support the only population of red-cockaded woodpeckers in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, or Delta, ecoregion. Photo by Diana Soteropoulos.

Main — ANHC botanist, Diana Soteropoulos (center), invited her parents, Linda and Edwin Soteropoulos (left), Joe Ledvina (back right), and Karen Seale (front right) to work with herbarium specimens collected from Pine City Natural Area. Photo by Katie Shannon.