Anchoring the earth
Exhibit showing big bluestem on the left, June grass in the middle and white prairie-clover on the right. (Photo courtesy of Manitoba Museum)
One of the most impressive plant specimens at the Manitoba Museum is a huge, preserved clump of grass that shows the entire root system. I think the reason everybody likes this specimen is that it provides a perspective that no one has ever seen: what a plant actually looks like under the ground. There was just one problem with that grass, however: it’s not actually a native species. It’s a Eurasian species called crested wheatgrass that was brought to Canada and widely planted in the 1930s. During our planning for the new Prairies Gallery, the curators strongly felt that visitors needed to see native species of plants when first entering the gallery. The process to collect plants for this exhibit was previously described in “I once caught a plant that was this big.”
The June grass specimen being excavated. (Photo courtesy of Manitoba Museum)
In addition to the tap-rooted white prairie-clover, the display case includes a specimen of big bluestem, Manitoba’s provincial grass, and a June grass. White prairie-clover relies heavily on associated microbial organisms to get adequate nutrition; mycorrhizal fungi help it obtain water and minerals like phosphorus, while nitrogen-fixing bacteria help it obtain nitrogen. This means that the roots of prairie-clover do not have to be very extensive, as they mainly serve as attachment points for its associated organisms.
Big bluestem is a warm-season grass that flowers in late summer when the soil is relatively dry; this is why its root system is so extensive and deep. In contrast, June grass is a cool-season species that flowers in June when the soil is still fairly moist; the shallow, densely hairy roots are able to get all of the resources the plant needs. This exhibit nicely illustrates the main strategies that plants use to exploit different niches in the soil, both in space and time.
Debbie Thompson, installing the white prairie-clover specimen. (Photo courtesy of Manitoba Museum)
After collecting these plants, the preservation process was out of my hands. Our talented Diorama and Collections Technician, Debbie Thompson, soaked the plants in a preservative for months, then carefully untangled the roots, painted the stems and roots to the correct colour, created false petals and came up with a clever mounting technique along with Bert Valentin, one of our productions staff. For a proper backdrop to the plants, I obtained an image of the correct soil profile from the Manitoba Soil Science Society, a Stockton loamy sand.
Debbie Thompson (left) and a very proud curator: me! (Photo courtesy of Manitoba Museum)
In December last year, the exhibit case and graphics were installed, and our plants were ready to move into their new home. It was an exciting day to see my vision come to life. I hope you all enjoy being greeted by some new plants as you enter the gallery.
The exhibit case with crested wheatgrass and associated interpretive panel on the Great Depression (Photo courtesy of Manitoba Museum)
If you are wondering what happened to that crested wheatgrass specimen, it has been relocated to the second half of the gallery, which tells the story of Manitoba’s post-European contact history. It is now located next to a history case on the impact of the Great Depression on Manitobans, correctly interpreted as a species planted in the 1930s to help stabilize soils that were blowing away due to the drought.
This post originally appeared on the Manitoba Museum’s blog and is reposted with permission.
About the Author
Diana Bizecki Robson is the curator of botany at The Manitoba Museum.
