A new window into plants of the past

Herbaria collections have long served as a vital record of what plant species exist on Earth and where they grow. But hidden within the desiccated leaves, stems, flowers and roots is far more information on how the plants interacted with their environment while they were alive. Until now the only way to learn about these traits from herbarium collections has required destroying bits of the precious specimens. But recently researchers have developed a fast, nondestructive way of estimating the functional traits of herbarium specimens.

from Top Health News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/Hpews2T