You may have seen Cow Itch Cherry (Malpighia infestissima) in the garden, so named because it has irritating hairs on the leaves. It is a rare tree of coastal dry forest, thought to occur in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, but declining throughout its range. Despite exhaustive fieldwork in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), no signs of this plant have been found although intriguingly, a similar looking plant has turned up.
To solve this conundrum, the DNA of the plants need to be compared. So, in an exciting development, specimens from the Garden are set to become part of an international research project at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK.
On his recent visit to the Garden, Dr. Colin Clubbe sampled a small amount of leaf material which his colleagues at Kew will use to run a DNA analysis to compare with other samples collected from Anegada in the BVI, and specimens from Kew’s herbarium. Key to the process is drying the samples quickly and ensuring no cross contamination.
The humble teabag has proven to be the perfect collecting vessel for the leaf fragments. Once collected, the teabag is transported to Kew in a sealed bag surrounded by silica gel. The silica gel dries the leaves quickly, so preserving its DNA.
Handing over plant material, no matter how small, and transporting plant materials across boundaries require various protocols which the Garden was pleased to comply with. This is an exciting moment for the Garden, showing what an important scientific role we can play and highlighting the value of our collections.
It will take several months for the results, so watch this space.
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