How to Handle the Cotton Relative Specimens from the Experimental Station

You will find specimens collected by Margaret Menzel and collaborators in the Cotton Relatives in the Florida Panhandle  expedition. Margaret was a Professor of Genetics in the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University, and she is memorialized in the Margaret Menzel Award given annually by the Genetics Section of the Botanical Society of America. An example label created by Margaret is shown (photo). The meaning of some of the numbers on the label is unclear, so I looked at one of her publications on Hibiscus. In table 1 of that publication, Menzel lists alphanumeric codes similar to our example of “A63-542” as an identifier for Accession, and this is different from the HV numbers, which have a column header “Herbarium Voucher” in that table. I interpret “Accession” to be a reference to the live plant at the experimental station.  It is not clear from the publication what the PI number might be. Here is my recommendation for the transcription of this particular label. Note that I have corrected the spelling of “flouwers” in the transcription.  Thank you for participating!

COUNTY: Palm Beach

LOCATION: Everglades Exper. Station. Seeds from Tanganyika, N. Morogoro, E. Prov.

HABITAT & DESCRIPTION: Cult. Blue-flowered. A63-542, PI292959. “May-wild-stems green, leaves divided, flowers purple”. Chromosomes: 2n + 36.

COLLECTED BY: Menzel and Wilson

COLLECTOR NUMBER: HV219

MONTH: 10-December

DAY: 12

YEAR: 1964