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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
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DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY

The Plant Press

From The Plant Press, Vol. 28, No. 3, July 2025.

Art by Alice Tangerini 

Misbrookea strigosissima (A.Gray) V.A.Funk

Illustration of Misbrookea strigosissima
Illustration of Misbrookea strigosissima

The 22nd National Botanical Symposium, “The Future of Collections-Based Plant Science,” was held in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2025. Among the talks was a presentation about giving recognition to hidden figures in herbarium collections, such as collectors, preparators, and identifiers. In a 1997 study, Vicki Funk gave prominent recognition to plant collector Miss Winifred M.A. Brooke by identifying a new genus after her, Misbrookea (Compositae: Senecioneae). Brooke was an English woman who collected in remote inaccessible areas of Bolivia from 1948 to 1950, (Brittonia 49(1): 110-117; 1997). The genus is confined to dry, high elevations in Peru and northern Bolivia. Alice Tangerini used five specimens, including one collected by Funk, to draw three separate illustrations. The drawing of the habit was used in several classes that Tangerini has taught in ink techniques as it was small enough for a one-day session and the story about the name provided additional interest.