Monday, February 3, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, and the Discovery of Intercontinental Disjuncts
William “Ned” Friendman, PhD, Arnold Arboretum Director and Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, will kick off the 2020 Director’s Lecture Series on Monday, February 3 at 7 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum. The Director’s Lecture Series is a benefit of membership, so if you are not already a member, join the Friends of the Arnold Arboretum now.
“Eastern Asia – eastern North America temperate woody disjuncts” is a mouthful. But, once you get the hang of it, you will discover the fascinating evolutionary stories of botanical emigrants that have journeyed from Asia to North America and evolved into much of what now makes up forest ecosystems in the eastern United States. You will also discover that the Arnold Arboretum holds one of the most important collections of such disjuncts, and that for nearly a century and a half, has been facilitating family reunions between such long-separated evolutionary cousins. This biogeographic story of temperate trees and shrubs began to unfold in the mid-nineteenth century with none other than Charles Darwin and Asa Gray, then Harvard Professor of Natural History. Wait until you hear about their correspondence!
Fee Free. Members only. Registration required as seating is limited. Register at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1
