College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

Quest for bamboo

Botany's Lynn Clark has became a leading world expert in bamboo
In Lynn Clark's line of work, it helps to be a little fearless.

Clark, professor of botany, has proved to be fearless and successful in her quest to find species of bamboo which have never before been identified. The Iowa State professor conducts much of her research in Central and South America, using whatever mode of transportation is available at the time.

"I've had my share of adventures," Clark admits. "You've got to do whatever it takes to get you to the site and I have gone by jeep, pack mule, hiking and by helicopter."

Clark glosses over many of her adventures. In 20 years of hiking, climbing and riding through the mountains of South and Central America, she claims to have seen only three snakes. She's been held at gunpoint in both Colombia and Mexico, although both were what she terms as misunderstandings.

"There are legends among researchers, who are not only fearless, but stupid," said Clark, who's fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese. "I don't ignore good advice. I always travel with someone native to the country and let them do the talking if we get into a situation."

But more times than not, Clark is simply looking for new species of bamboo. During the last few years, she has been studying the neotropical genus Chusquea. Many species of this bamboo inhabit the misty, montane forests of Central and South America.

Since she first started her research 20 years ago, she has named 70 species of bamboo and estimates there are another 60-70 samples she has already collected but has not yet identified as new.

"It's gotten to the point where we can be driving down a highway going 55 miles per hour when I see a species of bamboo that I haven't before and I'll yell for the driver to stop," she said.

The first species that Clark identified and named was in honor of Richard Pohl, who was director of Iowa State's herbarium. Clark studied under Pohl and went on several exhibitions to Costa Rica with the former botany professor. Pohl eventually named a species of bamboo after Clark.

"Typically when I name a bamboo, I will pick out characteristics and things about the bamboo that stand out," she said.

Clark's discoveries have made her one of the world's leading authorities in bamboo. Her research interests focus primarily on the systematics and morphology of grasses, particularly woody bamboos.

"I never had the conscious goal of being an authority on bamboos," she said, "but one day it dawned on me that I really know a lot about these plants."

Clark's interests in bamboo initially came from her childhood in the Washington, D.C. area. Her father worked for the FBI and knew botanists at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. While in high school she volunteered with the Smithsonian during the summers, working with some of the leading botanists in the world.

After graduating from Michigan State, she came to Iowa State to study under Pohl, who had already accumulated a strong collection of grasses, especially bamboo. Many of Pohl's samples are still located in the Ada Hayden Herbarium on campus along with Clark's collection. Clark also has several species of bamboo growing in the greenhouse sitting atop of Bessey Hall.

"The first time that I went with Dr. Pohl to Costa Rica, the habitats were so beautiful that I was hooked," she recalled. "I never looked back.

"I've got to meet interesting people, go to wonderful places and see glorious plants. What more could I want."