Research Training Program

Bruce Hoffmann
Humboldt State University
Arcata, California

Robert DeFilipps, Ph.D.
Project Advisor
Department of Botany

"The Smithsonian internship experience has added new dimensions to the kind of work I consider possible and desirable."

Checklist of Medicinal Plants of the Guianas

This project involved the creation of a database file of medicinal/economic plants from a variety of references on the Guianas. The primary reference was Dr. Mark Plotkin's unpublished field data from a 1986 ethnobotanical foray into S. Surinam. Also used were a book by Grenand from French Guiana and a book by Lachman-White on coastal medicinal plants of Guyana. From the 1,500 entry database, a checklist of medicinal plants (representing the compilation of at least 9 sources of reference) was created. This checklist was presented to the Flora of the Guianas advisory board and to Reference Publications Inc. Both organizations accepted the proposal to publish a "Medicinal Plants of the Guianas" book. The checklist showed that there was sufficient data to justify the need for a book. Since acceptance, standardized forms on which to write the text for the book have also been created.

Another aspect of this project involved the processing of incoming specimens from the Guianas. Bundles of specimens were opened and sorted numerically first, then samples were sent to specialists for identification and the rest stored. When the species or genera identification arrived, the names were added to the pre-made herbarium labels, the collection and field notebooks were updated, and the labels were placed with each specimen. Duplicate specimens were distributed to herbaria throughout the world, with those involved in the Flora of Guianas project receiving first priority. Familiarity with the process of shipping specimens out of the herbarium was also gained.

This research was supported by a grant from the Educational Outreach Fund.