HerbalEGram: Volume 5, Number 2, February 2008

Ethnobotanist Rainer Bussmann, PhD, has been named the new head of the William L. Brown Center, a research facility for plant genetic resources run by the Missouri Botanical Garden.¹

The Missouri Botanical Garden, founded in 1859 and a national landmark, is the oldest botanical garden in the United States.  Its 79 acres of “landscaped displays” including modern and traditional gardens can take-up to 3 hours to walk through, and it is a leader in botanical research.² The William L. Brown Center for Plant Genetic Resources’ mission is to study useful plants and relationships between humans, plants, and their environment.³ According to its Web site, the Center also aims to conserve plant species and preserve traditional knowledge of plants.

“It’s said that in botany there are two places you want to work, the Missouri Botanical Garden and Royal Botanical Gardens Kew [England],” said Dr. Bussmann (oral communication, January 27, 2008). “I hoped very much to become the [Wm. L. Brown] Center’s new head."

Dr. Bussmann, an ethnobotanist, ecologist, and conservationist, has a repertoire of areas from which to draw his experience. He earned his MSc in botany in 1993 from the University of Tuebingen in Germany, closely followed by his PhD in 1994 from the University of Bayreuth in Germany. He also held a similar position at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where he served as the scientific director of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, an ecological and ethnobotanical research facility, and also taught botany for the University. He’s also the author of several books including the recent Plants of longevity: The medicinal flora of Vilcabamba/ Plantas de longevidad: La Flora curandera de Vilcabamba (Graficart 2007) and Plants of the four winds: The magic and medicinal flora of Peru/ Plantas de los cuatro vientos: Flora mágica y medicinal del Perú (Graficart 2007) with co-author Douglas Sharon, PhD. Another book he co-authored includes Herbs of Southern Ecuador: A Field Guide to the Medicinal Plants of Vilcabamba with Cruz Roa and Ezra Bejar (Latino Herbal Press 2002).

According to Dr. Bussmann, serving as the center’s head involves a mix of administrative work, research and fundraising. One of the first things on the agenda is to widen the Center’s advisory board, but Dr. Bussmann has a more personalized route in mind to uphold the Center’s mission. “My personal focus is to preserve traditional knowledge about food and plant resources by focusing on traditional medicine and neglected crops.”

According to Dr. Bussmann, neglected crops are any food plants grown by indigenous populations that have not been widely commercialized on a global scale. One example of this, according to Dr. Bussmann, is Peruvian maca (Lepidium meyenii), a plant which was explored in a recent cover article in HerbalGram 75, while another is sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis). Also known as “the warrior herb,” this plant is rich in omega-3, 6, and 9 fatty acids and Dr. Bussmann believes might be able to replace fish-oil as a supplement. “This plant could be a valuable nutritional source, which is why warriors once used it for sustenance,” said Dr. Bussmann. “Instead it’s only being used to make fine French soaps.”

More information about the Missouri Botanical Garden can be found at http://www.mobot.org/, and more about the William L. Brown Center for Genetic Plant Resources can be accessed at http://www.wlbcenter.org/.

—Kelly E. Saxton

References