Hi all!

With summer approaching, we wanted to announce that we will no longer be collecting samples. Summer 2023 was our last round of sampling and it was a wild success! Thank you to all who took the time to participate!

We are hoping to have results ready within the next few months, which we will share with all of you here via another blog post.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, as always please feel free to reach out!

Thank you so much for your continued support!

Hi all!

We are excited to announce that there will be one final leaf collection this summer and fall!

I joined the project September 2022, and have been assisting Rachel in leaf collection and analysis. I worked on the research as an independent project for a class for my undergraduate degree, and now I am leading the citizen science effort. I will analyze the leaves this winter, and publish the results from this collection as a scientific paper.

Thanks again to everyone who has participated in previous years and already this year! We welcome your continued participation and are excited to see new faces!

The instructions are almost identical to previous years of collection, with a new address for sending in leaves. These details are updated in the DIRECTIONS post on the iNat project page.

Below are some preliminary results from the analyses I completed over the winter. For each leaf scan, we quantified 3 shape metrics, 4 size metrics, and 3 color metrics. Leaf size, shape, and color varied by species and could be used as identifying characteristics of I. capensis and I. pallida. I. pallida leaves were longer, wider, rounder, less intensely red, and less intensely green than I. capensis leaves.

Once again, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc.! Thank you for all of your help!

Best,
Michelle

Hi All,

I am excited to make the announcement that we have decided to run one more iteration of leaf collections this summer/fall!

The directions remain very similar to last year. If you participated last year, we would love to have you participate again this year! Many of you reached out directly during the past year to say you couldn't participate last year but wanted to if we ran another round of collections. Now is your chance and we'd love to have you.

For those that participated previously, the only differences are the address to send the leaves to, and the format of the Unique Leaf ID. We switched the underscores to periods (given iNat didn't seem to play well with underscores). These details are updated in the DIRECTIONS post on the iNat project page.

Unfortunately, Stephanie had to step away from the project last fall suddenly for personal reasons. I am currently in the process of recruiting another student to lead the processing, analysis, and publication of the leaves from this summer (and last) as a senior thesis research project. In the meantime, I am acting as the point person for the leaf collections during the summer and early fall.

I plan to pick up where Stephanie left off and complete a preliminary analysis of the leaves from last year to share with all of you here soon.

As always, please reach out with questions, ideas, etc, and a huge thank you for your engagement!

All the best,
Rachel

How to collect and submit leaves to the research project: Jewelweed leaf traits

A few notes:

Our goal is to analyze common and pale jewelweed leaves from across the range of these species to identify leaf traits that can be used to distinguish these two species.

We estimate your participation will take about 15 minutes once you have located a jewelweed plant that you have permission to collect a leaf from.

This project should have minimal impacts on these plants and the surrounding environment; removing a single leaf from these plants will not harm the overall plant (and neither species is endangered).

These instructions are written for use with a smartphone, however a home computer and digital camera could be substituted (to photograph the plant, find it’s approximate latitude and longitude, and upload the record to iNaturalist).

If you collect a leaf from more than one plant, please keep each leaf inside a separate greeting card or cardboard sandwich - labeled with the unique leaf ID. We also highly recommend collecting one leaf and uploading the associated photo/s to iNaturalist before collecting the next leaf to avoid mix-ups.

Other links:
About the Research Team
Frequently Asked Questions
Project Home Page

Materials:

• Jewelweed plant/s that you have permission to collect a leaf from
• Smartphone
• iNaturalist app and user account (free)
• Envelope and greeting card or (similar weight cardstock or thin cardboard)
• Pen or marker to write with

Join our iNaturalist project: (only need to do this once)

1. Install the iNaturalist app. Log in (or make an account if you don't have one yet) .
2. “Community” menu (on the bottom) → “Projects” → green magnifying glass
3. Enter “jewelweed leaf traits” in the search bar.
4. Click on the project and click “Join”. Now you are officially part of our project. Welcome!

Collect and press a leaf:

1. Locate a common jewelweed or pale jewelweed plant that has flowers in bloom. We will use your photograph of the flowers to confirm the species. Make sure you have permission to collect a leaf from this plant. For example, many natural areas do not allow any plant material to be removed/collected without expressed permission. We are relying on you to follow all rules for nature preserves, private property, etc.
2. Carefully collect the upper-most, fully opened, mature leaf on the plant that is attached to the main stem. Holes in the middle of the leaf are okay, but the leaf margin (aka edge) must be undamaged.

3. Place the leaf flat inside a greeting card or between two recycled pieces of thin cardboard (e.g. from a cereal box). Impatiens leaves wilt extremely quickly so it is best to press the leaf between cardboard right after you pick it. We will not be able to use folded or torn leaves. When you get home, put the greeting card or cardboard sandwich under a heavy book for 1-3 days to help the leaf stay flat while it dries.

Upload associated photos and data to iNaturalist:

Note - Reading this entire section first and then staying in the iNat. app. while you upload the observation helps avoid crashes.

1. Log into the iNaturalist app on your smartphone.

2. Upload an observation to iNaturalist.
   “Observe” menu (on bottom) → “Camera” icon → take a photo → “Use photo”.
   The photo should be of the plant that you collected the leaf from and must include at least one open flower.
   (You can take and upload multiple photos per plant if you like by clicking the box with the + in it on the following page).

3. Enter either “common jewelweed” or “pale jewelweed” using your best guess in the “What did you see?” field.
4. Check that the date, time, and location (including latitude/longitude) autofilled. If they are empty, type them in manually.

5. Add the observation to our project.
   “Projects” → toggle slider next to “Jewelweed leaf traits”

6. Fill in the Unique Leaf ID using this format:

   YYYYMMDD.username.01

   This ID corresponds to: year, month, date, your iNaturalist username, and an integer that starts at 01. If you collect more than one leaf on the same day, use .02, .03, etc. in the unique ID for subsequent leaves. (You do not need to note the species in the ID; we will get this from the iNaturalist record itself).

7. IMPORTANT - Write the Unique Leaf ID on the cardboard that the leaf is inside. We will use this unique ID to match the physical leaves we receive in the mail to the iNaturalist observation.
8. Confirm that the Unique Leaf ID is written on the cardboard that the leaf is inside by selecting “yes” for this field.
9. (Optional) - Enter the plant height and/or the approximate number of individuals (of the species you collected from) in the area if you would like (no pressure).
10. Click the green back arrow and then "Share" or the green checkmark (depending on version) to confirm and submit your observation. You will see your images being loaded and then will be brought back to your Observations page when the submission is complete.

Mailing leaves:

1. Check that the leaf is flat and dried - the leaf should stay flat when you open the greeting card or cardboard.

2. Place the greeting card or cardboard (with leaf inside) into an envelope. If you collected multiple leaves that you are mailing together, please secure each leaf inside its greeting card (or cardboard sandwich) by taping the edges closed with masking tape - to ensure each leave stays inside its labeled card during transit. Put appropriate postage on the envelope and mail to:

   Dept. of Botany, Michelle Kenton
   123 Birge Hall
   430 Lincoln Dr.
   Madison, WI 53706

3. Spread the word about our project if you are willing and able.
4. Reward yourself for participating in citizen science!

Michelle Kenton

Where are you currently?
I am an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

What do you study?
I am working towards Bachelor's degrees in Conservation Biology and Data Science, as well as a certificate in Sustainability.

Why are you excited about this project?
I am excited about this project because it is the perfect intersection of my interests. I love learning about plants, especially through statistical analysis. I am also a big fan of citizen science and the engagement of the community, which I think is often an underutilized resource. I hope to continue similar research in the future.

What else?
I am a Wisconsin native. When I am not studying science, I enjoy rock climbing, hiking, and reading. I have an 11-year-old goldendoodle. I hope to one day complete the training to become a master cheesemaker in my free time.

Dr. Rachel Toczydlowski

Where are you currently?
I am a research scientist with the United States Forest Service, located in the Great Lakes Region.

What do you study?
Lots of different things! As an evolutionary biologist, I am broadly interested in understanding the relationships between ecological processes and evolutionary outcomes, especially the determinants and consequences of genetic diversity. I have used common jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) to study the genetic effects of habitat fragmentation on native plants in floodplain and lowland forests in Wisconsin, USA. I have also investigated the drivers of genetic diversity in marine species – everything from penguins and seals to clownfish and diatoms - and will soon be starting on aquatic species in the Great Lakes. I also think a lot about how to make research reproducible, efficient, and open.

Why are you excited about this project?
This project gives me the opportunity to directly involve people from many walks of life in the scientific process. That’s really exciting to me. We also have the potential to develop a new way to distinguish these two species of jewelweed from one another. Finally, I am a sucker for anything jewelweed-related having studied it for my PhD.

What else?
I grew up in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula and have a soft spot for canoeing, foraging, and the Great Lakes as a result. My house is filled with over 100 houseplants, some much older than I am. I am highly competitive (mainly with myself) about the total number of tomatoes I can get my garden to produce each year.

Stephanie Lugo González (former, 2021)

Where are you currently?
I am an undergraduate student at Universidad Ana G. Mendez in Puerto Rico.

What do you study?
I am currently working to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Biology.

Why are you excited about this project?
I’m excited about learning new research techniques and how to modify and apply them in this new virtual reality we are living in. Getting people from different states involved in our project is very thrilling and I can’t wait to start receiving leaves in the mail. I hope this experience will help guide me as to what to do after I graduate.

What else?
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I’m a mother of three girls. I enjoy hiking, crafting, going to the beach and spending family time. The area of science I love the most is Microbiology.

Please don't hesitate to email Rachel (rhtoczyd@msu.edu) with questions!

1. What are the native ranges of these plants?
2. What are the common names of these plants?
3. How do I find jewelweed plants?
4. Does the plant need to be in a wild/natural area?
5. How do I know which species it is?
6. What if I am not certain which species it is?
7. Can I collect more than one leaf?
8. What if the leaf I want to collect has holes, spots, blemishes, etc.?
9. When can I mail you leaves?
10. Do I need an iNaturalist account to participate?
11. What if I don't have a smartphone?

1. What are the native ranges of these plants?

2. What are the common names of these plants?

Impatiens capensis :

Common jewelweed
(Orange) jewelweed
Orange touch-me-not
Spotted touch-me-not
Orange balsam

Impatiens pallida :

Pale jewelweed
Yellow jewelweed
Yellow touch-me-not
Pale touch-me-not
Snapweed
Quick-in-the-hand

3. How do I find jewelweed plants?
Both of these plants are relatively common. They grow in wet, nutrient-rich areas from partial shade to full sun. Some of the spots you might find them include - river banks, drainage ditches, lowlands, lake edges, floodplain forests, marshes, bogs, and wetlands. Yellow or pale jewelweed often grows in drier areas than orange jewelweed - think moist, rich forest soils. If you head to inaturalist.org and zoom in to your geographic area, you may get some hints about where to find these species near you. As noted elsewhere, be sure you have permission to collect a leaf from a plant before doing so! (For example, many nature preserves do not allow people to collect/remove plant tissue without explicit permission).

4. Does the plant need to be in a wild/natural area?
No. Yards, city parks, edges of roads, etc. are all fine as long as it is okay for you to collect a leaf from the plant.

5. How do I know which species it is?
For this project you just need to take your best guess if the species is orange (common) jewelweed (I. capensis), or pale (yellow) jewelweed (I. pallida). Flower color is currently the only reliable way to tell these species apart. Orange jewelweed has orange flowers with varying levels of red spotting. The flowers are also longer than they are wide. Pale jewelweed has yellow or cream flowers with small amounts of reddish-brown spotting. The flowers are about as wide as they are long. For the purposes of this study, as long as you upload a clear photo/s to iNaturalist that shows some leaves and at least one open flower, we will be able to confirm the species identification from the photos.

Bonus fact - the flowers that most people notice on jewelweed are called chasmogamous flowers - because they are generally outcrossed aka pollinated with pollen from another plant. Jewelweed plants make two types of flower though. If you peek underneath the leaves - usually those close to the main stem and/or near the bottom of the plant - you might see what look like very tiny flower buds. These are called cleistogamous flowers. They never open and are therefore obligately self-fertilized. This ensures these annual species can reproduce when light, nutrients, water, and/or pollinators are scarce.

6. What if I am not certain which species it is?
That's okay! Put your best guess into iNaturalist along with at least one clear photo of an open flower. We and the rest of the iNaturalist community will use these photo/s to confirm the identification. If we are also stumped, we will omit this leaf from the analyses. One of the cool things about iNaturalist is that the platform uses the collective knowledge of the community to help correctly identify species in observations that people contribute.

7. Can I collect more than one leaf?
Yes! We always only want one leaf collected per plant (the uppermost fully-expanded, mature leaf on the main stem of the plant). If you do want to collect multiple leaves from one or both species, it would be most helpful to us if these leaves come from geographically (and/or environmentally) distant locations. Having many leaves from the same species of Impatiens that were all collected within a few meters of each other is not super helpful to us. If you do collect leaves from multiple plants, please make sure they each have a unique identification value. For example if iNaturalist user Stephaniej1 collected a leaf from two different Impatiens capensis plants and one I. pallida plant all on August 1st, 2021 and then one I. capensis plant on August 3rd, 2021 she would use the following Unique Leaf IDs:

20210801.Stephaniej1.01
20210801.Stephaniej1.02
20210801.Stephaniej1.03
20210803.Stephaniej1.01

Please start over with value .01 on different days.

Please also remember to keep each leaf correctly matched to the iNaturalist record (e.g. the leaf in the cardboard labeled 20210801.Stephaniej1.01 should be matched to the data Stephanie uploaded to iNaturalist with ID value 20210801.Stephaniej1.01).

8. What if the leaf I want to collect has holes, spots, blemishes, etc.?
This is okay as long as the leaf margin (aka edge) is not damaged. We will be using a flatbed scanner and code to digitally trace the outline of each leaf. The interior of the leaf is not as important for our analyses (we may use it to do some color analyses).

9. When can I mail you leaves?
You can collect and mail us a leaf or leaves at any point in the summer/fall of 2022 as long as each plant you collect from has at least one open flower (so we can confirm the species) and the uppermost fully expanded leaf on the main stem has an undamaged, complete edge (so we can generate an outline of the entire leaf).

10. Do I need an iNaturalist account to participate?
Yes. But, setting one up takes less than five minutes and only requires an email address. Having an account also allows you to contribute to other research projects, see what plants and critters people are spotting in your area, and keep track of your own cool encounters if you are interested.

11. What if I don't have a smartphone?
You are still more than welcome to participate. You will just have to do a little additional work to take a photo/s of the plant that you collect a leaf from and upload these photos and associated information to iNaturalist. You may also need to do a little more hands-on work to keep track of the date and the location (latitude and longitude) that you collected the leaf from.

You can use any digital camera to take the photo/s of the plant that you collected the leaf from. You will need to make sure you have the date that you collected the leaf recorded somewhere to input into iNaturalist. You will also need to manually input the latitude and longitude of the plant that you collected the leaf from. (We would like the coordinates to be accurate within a few miles or less). To find the latitude and longitude of a place using Google Maps (e.g. on a home computer) - open Google Maps, find and zoom in to the approximate location on the map, and click on the specific location on the map where you collected the leaf from. This will pop up a little window with the place name or address and the latitude and longitude for the specific location that you clicked on the map.