Department of Biology

“Our photographic scavenger hunt was an overwhelming success,” reported Eric Knox, director of the Indiana University Herbarium, the collection of preserved plant specimens maintained by the IU College of Arts and Science’s Department of Biology.

During the 2021 growing season, the IU Herbarium staff mounted a broad effort to engage native plant lovers across Indiana in its Plant Photographic Scavenger Hunt. The purpose of the scavenger hunt was to build greater understanding and interest in the 2,700 species that comprise the state’s flora while adding to the library of photographs displayed on the Consortium of Midwest Herbaria data portal, the web platform used to present the IU Herbarium specimen database.

An overwhelming success

By the end of funding, the project had garnered 8,988 images. Of them, 6,430 were edited and uploaded to the Consortium of Midwest Herbaria. At the start of the Plant Photographic Scavenger Hunt, approximately 1,400 Indiana species lacked adequate images. The project reduced that to fewer than 500 species.

The submitted photos have multiple uses. They illustrate species information pages and have been used for a photographically enhanced online glossary of terms. They also have a powerful interactive function in a plant identification tool known as the Golden Key. Thanks to recent programming changes implemented by Ed Gilbert, users can view the list of possible species as a photo-gallery, confirming the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Hundreds of photographs were also accompanied by full locality information. These add to our knowledge of where species occur in Indiana and how the dynamic flora of the state might be changing.

Completing the project

The submission of photos was strong throughout the year, but—as a result of a late surge of image submissions—3,225 photos came in too late for inclusion in the 2021 cohort. The late submissions include many of Indiana’s rare species. Given the success and interest in the project, herbarium staff is in the process of finding funding to complete the editing and uploading of this image backlog.

The 2021 Plant Photographic Scavenger Hunt was promoted by partnerships with environmental groups in Indiana including The Nature Conservancy of Indiana, regional land trusts, state agencies such as Division of Nature Preserves, as well as the project sponsors, IAS and INPS.