On Tuesday, April 10, 2018, herbarium curator Richard Olmstead, collections manager David Giblin, and executive director Julie Stein brought the herbarium specimen collected from the large madrone (Arbutus Menziesii) into the New Burke—signifying the beginning of the move.
This particular specimen was collected by Julie in June 2016, prior to the start of construction, during an informal gathering of Burke staff to honor the madrone tree and make it a permanent part of the Burke herbarium collection.
Julie Stein collects a madrone specimen to add to the Burke collection in June 2016.
A Burke staff member touches the large madrone tree.
At the time of its collection, Herbarium collections manager David Giblin shared a few words about the significance of madrones (also called Madrona trees) and the important role they have in Northwest ecosystems and cultures. He then put the specimens into a press to dry and noted the time and place that they were collected.
Once dry, the specimens were mounted onto a herbarium sheet, scanned and added to the online collections database before being housed in the collection.
David Giblin places the madrone specimen samples in newspaper to press them for drying.
David Giblin notes the date, location, and GPS coordinates of the collected madrone specimen.
While construction required the removal of some trees, three trees will be planted to replace every two removed and the Burke and the University of Washington are reusing the wood from felled trees in the New Burke building and other projects across campus.
Wood from the madrone tree covers the walls of the east entrance to the New Burke, surrounding visitors as they embark on their museum experience.
In addition to the entrance paneling, wood from the madrone will also become a one-of-a-kind bench for visitors to sit at the feet of the mastodon in the new lower lobby.
Soon new Douglas fir and madrone trees will dot the area around the building, surrounded by drought-tolerant plants like salal and evergreen huckleberry. The final phase of landscaping, including the new parking lot and meadow featuring native camas lilies and prairie grasses, will be completed in advance of the New Burke opening in fall 2019
Visit the New Burke Project page for answers to common questions about the project.
Read more New Burke updates.
