Herbarium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Studying a plant sample in the Herbarium

In botany, a herbarium is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in alcohol or other preservative.

The term can also refer to the building where the specimens are stored, or the scientific institute that not only stores but researches these specimens. The specimens in a herbarium are often used as reference material in describing plant taxa; some specimens may be types.

1 Form
2 Uses
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Form

Preparing a plant for mounting

To preserve their form and color, plants collected in the field are spread flat on sheets of newsprint and dried, usually in a plant press, between blotters or absorbent paper. The specimens, which are then mounted on sheets of stiff white paper, are labeled with all essential data, such as date and place found, description of the plant, altitude, and special habitat conditions. The sheet is then placed in a protective case. As a precaution against insect attack, the pressed plant is frozen or poisoned and the case disinfected.

Detailed information on where and when the plant was collected, habitat, color (since it may fade over time), and the name of collector is usually included.

[edit] Uses

Herbaria are essential for the study of plant taxonomy, the study of geographic distributions, and the stabilizing of nomenclature. Thus it is desirable to include in a specimen as much of the plant as possible (e.g., flowers, stems, leaves, seed, and fruit). Linnaeus' herbarium now belongs to the Linnean Society in England.

Many universities, museums, and botanical gardens maintain herbaria. Notable herbaria in the United States include the Harvard University Herbaria, the United States National Herbarium at the National Museum of Natural History (of the Smithsonian Institution) and at the New York and Missouri Botanical Gardens. Herbaria have also proven very useful as sources of plant DNA for use in taxonomy and molecular systematics.