Hawaiian Wood Anatomy SEM Photographs Case Study

In the Fall of 2006, 2 sets of more than 1600 black and white scanning electron microscopy (SEM) prints were rediscovered in the University Herbarium archive. Legacy research from Dr. Charles Lamoureux, the photos were taken by Gail Murakami in February 1984. The photographs included transverse, tangential and radial cross sections of many native Hawaiian woods. Unfortunately, research towards the preparation of a publication on the Wood Anatomy of Native Hawiian woods ended with the death of Dr. Lamoureux.

In the Spring and summer of 2008, the images on were catalogued as part of the University of Hawaii Virtual Museum by Michael B. Thomas, Linda Lazo and Jeff Boutain.

The black and white print photographs were scanned as 600 dpi TIFF files using an Epson flatbed scanner. The raw images were then resized and optimized for the web using Adobe Photoshop CS2. A series of Photoshop actions automated this procedure. The images are currently being added to the Vitrual Museum: Natural History Photograph Collection. Original photos are planned to be permanently archived in the University of Hawaii Hamilton library archives.

Psidium guajava L. (Mrytaceae), radial 260X G. Murakami, 2/2/1984 No. 1019-10