In November 2017, I started a placement with the Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales (AC-NMW). The four-month placement is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council Valuing Nature Programme. It aims to investigate ways in which the AC-NMW’s Economic Botany Collection can improve societal understanding and valuing of biodiversity and contribute to the AC-NMW well-being duty (Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015). I arrive at this placement with an interest in how plants and the cultivation of plants have the potential to support health and well-being in a range of ways.

Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales Economic Botany Collection

The Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales Economic Botany Collection consists of approximately 3,500 specimens of various items ranging from seeds to medicinal plants, dyes, tannins, cotton and other fibres as well as a range of oils, gums, resins and pine cones.

I have spent the first part of the placement exploring the collection. Highlights include the largest seed in the world – the Coco de Mer – to some of the smallest orchid seeds, a range of naturally dyed wool samples from Cambrian Mills – including Walnut, Elderberry, Indigo, Privet and Madder.

Stories and Seeds

Alongside the diversity of material contained within the collection, there are many stories. The collection includes a range of notation and correspondence of collectors. Exploring the collection also reveals interests of collectors. One of the previous Keepers of Botany at AC-NMW (1962-1984), SG Harrison had a keen interest in drift seeds, found floating along the tidal range of beaches across the world from Riviera Beach, Florida to Malaysia. A key contributor to the collection is AE Wade, who investigated Welsh flora within South Wales and surrounding environs. He contributed seeds of wild plants and flowers found in the verges of Cardiff city, within Cardiff Castle and National Museum Cardiff grounds, Cardiff and Barry Docks and the Vale of Glamorgan. There are also a number of seeds from Singleton Park Botanic Gardens and Kew Gardens.

Materia Medica

The Museum also hold the recently acquired Materia Medica collection from Prof. Terence Turner (School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University).

Next steps

The next phase of the placement invites members of the public explore how the collection might be better used and how new collecting approaches might best be approached. I am looking forward to meeting a range of stakeholders interested in biodiversity and well-being within Wales. One of the forms of engagement will include the co-production of a range of handling boxes of specimens from the Economic Botany Collection with a number of identified stakeholders, and a public consultation at the Museum during February half-term.

Medicinal Plants

The potential for the collection lies not only in enabling the public to learn more about the power of plants. It could also hold information that could support the health and well-being of future generations through scientific research. It is estimated that of the 250,000 species of flowering plants only 5,000 have had their pharmaceutical potential tested in laboratories. Cancer-curing properties have been found in a range of plants including:

• Yew (Taxus baccata), the needles of which contains yew leaves contained compounds that could be used as starting material for the synthesis of paclitaxel, an active anti-cancer compound which can be used for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
• Madagascan Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) contains several highly toxic alkaloids which have been used in the treatment of a number of cancers. One derived compound has been credited with raising the survival rate in childhood leukaemia from less than 10% in 1960 to over 90% today [1].
• Sweet Wormwood (Artemisia annua) has  been used in China for centuries for treatment of malaria – since at least the third century CE. The active principle artemisinin which is a chemical that occurs naturally in the leaves of Sweet wormwood has been identified as a potent anti-malarial agent that may be used to treat one of the most deadly malarial parasites, Plasmodium falciparum [2]. Several semi-synthetic derivatives have now been used for combination therapies for the safe treatment of acute and recurrent malarial infections. There are now a range of programmes selecting and cloning high artemisinin-yielding chemotypes.

There must be more plant medicines to be discovered! By the year 2050, 60,000 species may become extinct. Conservation which preserves biological diversity is vital for the future. The Materia Medica gifted to AC-NMW by Prof Terence Turner of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences may prove to be a useful resource for the future of understanding the healing properties of plants. I am in the process of building links with the National Botanic Garden of Wales, Kew Garden and the Royal College of Physicians garden team to further explore how the Prof Turner’s Materia Medica could be developed as a resource.

Endnotes

The project is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council-Valuing Nature Programme. Poppy Nicol is the principal researcher (Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University) currently based at Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales. Findings will be presented in a report which will be made publicly available on the NERC Valuing Nature network website.

[1] http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77880-1

[2] http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:304416-2

As we are sure you are aware, there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes at the National Museum of Wales, including research, conservation and work experience. This week is Student Volunteering Week and in honor of this, we have taken the time to find out a little bit more about one of our interns, Eirini...

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Name: Eirini Anagnostou

Job title/ Role: Intern

Department: History and Archaeology, National Museum Cardiff

Where you are you from?

Greece

What are you studying?

I am a student of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, studying Archaeology and History of Art

Why did you choose to study Archaeology and History of Art?

I've been interested in Art since high school, particularly Contemporary but also Renaissance and Byzantine art and I am also interested in cultural history and civilisations.

What are you doing here?

Erasmus+ placement programme, working as an intern updating the Portable Antiquities Scheme Cymru database – I’ve worked here for 2 months so far!

What are your main duties?

Using the Photoshop programme and processing images of artefacts found by mainly metal detectorists to go on the PAS database.

Next week I will be doing some photography, and working on developing stories on a collection of Ancient Greek coins. I am also hoping to have input into the development of an exhibition concept.

Why did you come to Cardiff?

I visited Cardiff three years ago and I liked the city. I chose the National Museum because it is one of the biggest museums in the UK. I think it’s a good experience for my personal development and future aspirations.

Are you enjoying your time in Cardiff?

Yes, Cardiff is a lovely city with friendly people. There are many things to do and a beautiful castle!

What have you enjoyed the most about working at NMW?

The working environment here is very friendly and helpful. I’ve learnt a lot and I’ve had the opportunity to see the galleries – I was amazed at the extensive collection of Impressionist paintings!

Have you seen anything that’s not currently on display that particularly interested you?

I’ve never seen so many artefacts before – I’ve never seen bones and prehistoric artefacts like those collected in the museum’s stores, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to see them.

What do you hope to learn from this experience?

I hope to learn how a museum works because I’d like to do a Masters in Museum Studies and possibly become a curator. I am still deciding where to study for my Masters degree. I also am enjoying experiencing living abroad and I hope to continue travelling for a couple more years.

To see more content related to the Portable Antiquites Scheme and the Saving Treasures; Telling Stories Project, a project currently working with PAS and local metal detectorists and communities to record all archaeological findings, click here.

Beth mae 'Cymru a'r Môr' yn ei olygu i mi?

Yn syml iawn, mae'n rhan fawr o bwy ydw i!

Ar ochr fy nhad, rwy'n nai, ŵyr, gor-nai, gor-ŵyr a gor-or-ŵyr i forwyr o bentref Aberporth yng Ngheredigion. Chwaraeodd pob un ei ran yn y cyfraniad anferth, anghymesur bron a wnaed gan forwyr Cymru at lynges fasnachol Prydain dros ddwy ganrif o 1750 i 1950.

Cododd pob un bron yn Gapten (Master Mariner) a dros y canrifoedd dyma nhw'n capteinio llongau o bob maint - o'r cychod bychain fyddai'n cario glo mân a chalchfaen i'r pentref yn y 19eg Ganrif, i'r cludydd mwyaf dan y lluman coch ddiwedd y 1960au.

Mae un o’m cyndeidiau yn gorwedd yn ddwfn dan ddyfroedd oer Newfoundland, lle bu farw wedi i'w long daro mynydd ia. Claddwyd un yn y fynwent Brydeinig yn Chacarita, Buenos Aires lle bu farw tra'n capteinio tramp yn cludo glo o Gaerdydd i bweru rheilffyrdd a lladd-dai yr Ariannin. Roedd yn rhaid i un arall ddelio â llofruddiaeth ar ei long wedi i ddadl rhwng y criw am ddyled gamblo fynd dros ben llestri.

Ond nid hanes anturiaethau morwyr yn unig yw hon.

Ar ddechrau'r 20fed ganrif, gyda hyd at hanner dynion y pentref wedi mynd i'r môr roedd cymuned Aberporth a nifer o bentrefi tebyg yn gymuned fatriarchaidd. Cymuned lle magai menywod cryf eu teuluoedd eu hunain tra'n hiraethu am eu hanwyliaid am gyfnodau maith. Mae'n anodd amgyffred y boen a'r gofid a brofwyd ar nosweithiau stormus dirifedi â milltiroedd maith rhyngddynt â'u cariadon.

Ond roedd manteision i fod yn wraig i gapten hefyd! Os oedd llong y gŵr yn cyrraedd porthladd Prydeinig, neu borthladd cyfagos ar y cyfandir, byddai'r wraig yn aml yn teithio i'w gyfarfod. Yn ogystal â chwmni cariadus, byddai cyfle hefyd i weld ffasiwn ddiweddaraf Caerdydd, Newcastle a Glasgow - neu Antwerp a Hamburg hyd yn oed! Byddai gwraig capten llong yn aml yn ennyn yr un parch ar y tir mawr ag y byddai ei gŵr ar y môr. Feiddiai neb alw fy hen fam-gu yn ddim ond Mrs. Capten Jenkins!

Er gwaethaf y llinach hwn, drwy siawns gyrfa cefais fy magu filltiroedd o'r môr ym Meirionydd. Dim ond dros wyliau ysgol fydden ni'n cael cyfle i ymweld ag Aberporth a mwynhau pysgota mecryll a gosod cewyll cimwch. Meirionydd yw cartref teuluol fy mam, ac mae ei theulu wedi bod yn ffermio yng ngogledd yr hen sir honno ers oes Elisabeth I o leiaf.

Bychan fyddai dylanwad y môr ar eu bywydau bob dydd meddech chi. Ond ganol y 1880au bu'n rhaid iddynt adael eu cartref, Tŷ Ucha' ym mhentref Llanwddyn, pan godwyd argae ar afon Efyrnwy i ddarparu dŵr ar gyfer Lerpwl oedd ar anterth ei llwyddiant fel un o borthladdoedd blaenaf Prydain. Ymestynna dylanwad y môr ymhell tu hwnt i'r arfordir, felly cofiwch bod y digwyddiad eleni yn perthyn i Gymru gyfan, ac nid ein cymunedau glan môr yn unig.

I ddathlu Dydd San Ffolant a Dydd Santes Dwynwen cyn hynny, dyma luniau o eitemau yn ein casgliadau yn Amgueddfa Werin Cymru a roddwyd fel arwydd o ramant a chariad.

Y Llwy Garu

Cerfiwyd y llwy hynaf yng nghasgliad yr Amgueddfa yn 1667, ond mae’n ddigon posibl bod y traddodiad yn bodoli llawer cyn hynny. Roedd cerfio llwyau o bren er mwyn eu defnyddio yn y cartref yn arfer poblogaidd dros fisoedd hir y gaeaf, yn enwedig yng nghefn gwlad Cymru. Byddai’r llwy yn cael ei rhoi fel arwydd o angerdd ac hefyd yn cael ei defnyddio gan y derbyniwr wrth y bwrdd bwyd. Wrth i’r grefft ddatblygu, troes y llwy garu i fod yn llawer mwy addurnedig ac yn llai o declyn bwyta.

Cerfiwyd y llwyau caru mewn amrywiaeth o wahanol siapiau gyda phatrymau gwahanol a chywrain. Gellir dehongli symbolaeth yr addurniadau hyn mewn amryw ffyrdd, ond dyma restr isod o’r rhai mwyaf poblogaidd a’u hystyr posibl:

Calonnau

Symbol cariad ym mhob cwr o’r byd a welir yn aml ar lwyau caru Cymreig. Arwydd o angerdd ac emosiwn dwfn sy’n sicr yn cyfleu dwyster teimlad y cerfiwr at ei anwylyd. Mae’n bosibl bod llwy â dwy galon yn dangos cariad cytûn rhwng y crefftwr a’r derbyniwr.

Powlenni dwbl

Yn achlysurol cai llwyau caru eu cerfio gyda dwy bowlen neu ragor, gan ddangos, o bosibl, undod eneidiau neu, yn yr engrheifftiau gyda thair powlen, y dymuniad am blentyn.

Coma neu siâp persli

Siâp sydd i’w weld yn aml ar lwyau caru Cymreig hanesyddol. Dwedir ei fod yn cynrychioli’r enaid a serch dwys.

Peli mewn cawell

Credir bod peli wedi’u cerfio mewn cawell yn cynrychioli’r nifer o blant y gobeithiai’r cerfiwr eu cael, ond gallant hefyd gynrychioli gŵr sy’n gaeth gan gariad.

Cadwyni

Ystyrir rhain fel arwydd o deyrngarwch a ffyddlondeb, ond gallant hefyd fod yn arwydd o ddau enaid wedi’i clymu gan eu cariad a’u ffyddlondeb.

Diemwntau

Credir bod diemwntau yn dymuno bywyd llewyrchus ac yn addewid i ddarparu’n dda ar gyfer eich cariad.

Allweddi a thyllau clo

Yn ogystal â’r tŷ, gwelir delweddau eraill ar lwyau caru Cymreig weithiau sy’n arwydd o gartref dedwydd. Mae allweddi a thyllau clo yn cael eu cerfio’n aml er mwyn cyfleu diogelwch, neu’r syniad rhamantus o allwedd i’r galon.

Olwyn

Mae olwynion i’w gweld yn aml ar lwyau caru Cymreig a dywedir eu bod yn brawf o addewid y cerfiwr i weithio’n galed ac arwain ei gymar trwy fywyd.

Cardiau Ffolant

Dywedir bod y neges ffolant gyntaf yn Lloegr yn dyddio o 1684. Yng Nghymru, yn ystod yr un cyfnod, ceir sôn gan y bardd Edward Morris, Perthi-llwydion am neges debyg. Er hynny, rhaid oedd aros hyd at y 19eg ganrif nes i’r arfer o anfon cardiau ffolant ddod yn boblogaidd gyda’r enghriefftiau cynharaf o Gymru yn deillio o ddechrau’r ganrif honno. Yn y cyfnod hwn hefyd, yn Sir Forgannwg,  daeth “clymu cwlwm cariad” yn boblogaidd. Byddai’r clymau hyn yn cael eu dosbarthu fel ffafrau ar Ddydd San Ffolant, yn arwydd o serch ac ymroddiad. Gyda threigl amser gwelwyd y clymau ar gardiau San Ffolant.

Yn anffodus, fel gall llawer dystio, gall llwybr cariad fod yn llawn rhwystrau a siomedigaethau. Mae gennym yn yr Amgueddfa gasgliad o “Ffolantau Sbeit” neu “Falantau Ysmala” a anfonwyd i’r rheini a oedd wedi gwrthod neu dwyllo cariad neu wedi rhoi terfyn ar berthynas. Mae’r ddelwedd gyntaf yn dangos cerdyn o’r fath.

....... quite literally in some cases!

Last week saw us head up to Berwick-upon-Tweed to sample for species of marine bristle worms, the shovelhead worms (Annelida: Magelonidae). The aim was to collect enough of these burrowing animals from under the muddy sand at low tide that we could contribute to our collections and additionally place some in our laboratory tank for live observations.

After closely examining one species of shovelhead worm at the museum (Magelona alleni) for the majority of the first seven months of my professional training year (PTY) from Cardiff University, and successfully finding out some exciting new behavioural traits (in press), I find myself wanting to expand not only my own knowledge, but becoming eager to contribute more to our overall understanding of these fascinating and somewhat enigmatic creatures. The more science we uncover, the more well known these species, who perhaps do not receive the same attention as some of the bigger vertebrates, become. I see this as a crucial factor to raise awareness for a preservation of the natural world in our future.

With this mantra circling around my head, my enthusiasm was bursting as we drove to the beach on our first day of sampling. Low tide was just before 8am, meaning leaving our cottage, full gear in tow, at around 6.30am. No problems, I thought. I’m ready for that chilly Northern January air. Bring. It. on. Assembled with so many layers that we lost count, we clambered out of the car ready to get onto the beach, undeterred by the eerie super moon and snow battering our windscreen as we drove to our destination that morning. We were looking for two species of Magelona in particular, Magelona johnstoni and Magelona mirabilis, known to occur in abundance in this location, where George Johnston first describer of the the latter species lived and collected worms (you can learn more about the fascinating life of George Johnston and what he accomplished at these sites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Johnston_(naturalist), http://www.raysociety.org.uk/userfiles/File/Johnston%20essay.pdf).

Our first dig looked promising, revealing many of the now familiar milky white, almost stringy, teeny tiny strands of magelonids. As we gently prised them out of the sand and put them into test tubes, by using seawater to gently wash the surrounding sand away in our hands, it occurred to me my hands were starting to go a little bit numb in the icy water. I thought I obviously wasn’t quite as seasoned at this as Kate, my museum mentor. Luckily we had hand warmers at the ready to dive our hands into after each dig. However, as we dug more and more both of us felt our hands turn to popsicles, and let me tell you, anyone who has ever tried to get a worm that is only a few millimeters in length into a test tube does not want popsicle hands. Over the next few hours our feet slowly turned into matching ice cubes, until we had to call it a day. Luckily for us, we had the same scenario to play out all over again the next morning.

 What I haven’t mentioned yet is that despite the somewhat crisp weather, we saw some of the most breathtaking sunrises, with only the odd oystercatcher and redshank to accompany us. Along with this, we were further rewarded by the pure amount of magelonids present in such small spaces, meaning our collection was plentiful and we could take the animals back to our make-shift laboratory at our accommodation for identification, which is when you really start to see what the fuss is about with these worms. The stringy white appearance you see from afar turns into an elegant, ethereal-like animal under the microscope, with complex morphological features. Perhaps, most notably, long, flowing palps that arise near to the animal’s mouth. The number we collected means observations in the laboratory can now be started for new research. George Johnston’s description of the abundance of the animals here sure hasn’t changed much in well over 100 years. Ultimately, the moral of the story is that sometimes, the more changeling the environment, the more recompense. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll be worm hunting in the Artic!

Catch up with some other tails of a PTY student