Islands are often the playgrounds of imaginary scientists, from Dr. Moreau to the researchers on the TV show Lost. But this place is real: an island where every single plant species has had its DNA analyzed and cataloged.
Plummers Island is just on the edge of the Potomac River and holds the distinction of being “the most studied island in North America.”
That’s according to John Kress, a botanist at the Smithsonian Institution. “There’s been more biologists out here looking at everything from worms to flowers to birds, mammals, snails … than any other spot on the East Coast,” he says.