[Nhcoll-l] Methods for preserving and displaying a full-size Giant Hogweed plant

[Ghulwinder Kaur]

Hello natural history collections community,



My name is Ghulwinder Kaur and I am a student in the Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management program at Fleming College, Peterborough, Canada. Currently, I am doing my 4-month internship at Royal Botanical Gardens, Ontario.  My internship includes a research project for which I have selected to report on potential methods for displaying a full-size specimen of Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), a plant whose sap contains toxins that can cause severe dermatitis. The intention is to give visitors a safe, up-close experience of the real plant so they will be able to recognize it and differentiate it from similar-looking plants. This could potentially be built as a travelling exhibit.



A few years ago, RBG’s herbarium staff prepared a Giant Hogweed specimen using traditional methods of pressing and mounting, slightly modified to scale up for a 6-foot-tall, toxic plant. During the pressing process, it was contaminated with mold growth. Part of the issue was that the thick (but hollow) stem took a very long time to dry. The foliage and flowers dried more quicky; however, they were not separated from the stalk. Another part of the problem was that the plant was dried in a shed, since the giant press (made with shipping pallets) did not fit in the herbarium workroom, and a few hot and rainy days created humid conditions in the shed. Diluted isopropyl alcohol was used to clean the mold off the pressed plant, but the resulting specimen was mold-stained and brittle.



Does anyone have experience preserving and displaying plants with similar features? In addition to pressing, I would like to know if there are other ways to create a full-size display specimen. I would be grateful for advice.



Sincerely,

Ghulwinder Kaur
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