Herbaria! Edible and poisonous plants with Jordan Metzger

The terms “herbarium” (singular) or “herbaria” (plural) may elicit visions of a lush tropical greenhouse… but in fact, herbaria are collections of dead plant specimens that have been collected over years, dried and pressed to large sheets of acid free paper for long-term storage in cabinets. These specimens are prepared and cared for using similar methods used for centuries by botanists and are important tools used for identifying various plants. In this episode, I met with Dr. Jordan Metzger on location at the Massey Herbarium of Virginia Tech University. We discussed the importance of herbarium collections in distinguishing edible from poisonous plants. Plus, we chat about an interesting and super dangerous member of the carrot family – the Giant Hogweed! About Jordan Metzger Dr. Jordan Metzger is the Curator of the Massey Herbarium at Virginia Tech. Jordan came to VPI after working at the University of Alaska Herbarium for ten years. His research has long focused on fern systematics, including his doctoral research on the circumboreal fern genus Cryptogramma.