Herbaria and Database Systems Michael G. Simpson

What is an herbarium? A place where preserved plant collections are kept, usually pressed and dried plant specimens attached to a sheet of paper = herbarium specimen

Function or purpose of herbaria? Maintain plant specimens Act as centers of plant systematics research

Reference book for herbaria? Index Herbariorum Homlgren, P. K., N. H. Holmgren, and L. C. Barnett, eds Index herbariorum, part I: The herbaria of the world, 8th ed. New York: New York Botanical Garden. (continuously updated)

Index Herbariorum Herbarium Year Founded AcronymSpecimens Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris France 1635P,PC 9,500,000 New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, U.S.A.1891 NY7,000,000 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, U.K.1841K7,000,000 Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques, Genève, Switzerland1824G6,000,000 Komarov Botanical Institute, St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia 1823LE5,770,000 Missouri botanical Garden, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.1859MO5,400,000 The Natural Hisotry Museum, London, England, U.K.1753BM5,200,000 Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.1864GH5,005,000 (incl. A,AMES,ECON,FH,NEBC) Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien, Austria1807W5,000,000 Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden1739S4,400,000 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.1848US, USNC4,368,000 Institute de Botanique, Montpellier, France1845MPU4,000,000 Université de Lyon, Villeurbane, France1924LY4,000,000 Universitatis Florentinae, Museo botanico, Firenze, Italy1842FI3,650,000 Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany1895JE3,000,000

Herbarium Specimen?

Size and format of herbarium specimen?

Herbarium Label?

Herbarium Curator? Person responsible for running the herbarium. 1)Maintaining collection. 2)Processing new collections to the herbarium. 3)Distributing loans. 4)Resource for plant identification.

Accession number? Permanent number associated with each specimen. Usually written with herbarium acronym: SD SDSU UC

Storing and handling specimens? Herbarium cabinet /compactor, with sealed door. Genus folders stored, may be color-coded: alphabetical or by classification system. Handle carefully, gen. don’t turn upside- down.

Annotation Label? 1)Verifies or changes identity of specimen. 2)Documents removal of plant material Different types of data?

Removing plant material? 1)Get Permission 2)May reconstitute in boiling water or detergent solution. 3)Flowers, pollen, ovules, tissues, DNA.

Herbarium Loan? Insect control?

Data Information System? Inputting, organization, and accessing of information. Data may answer questions in plant taxonomy.

Data Information Systems: Fields Taxonomic Number Group Family Genus Species Species Author Infraspecific Rank Infraspecific Name Infraspecific Author Collection Number Determination Date Certainty of identification Country State District Locality Latitude Longitude Elevation Habitat Description Date of Collection Collector: First Name Collector: Last Name Associate Collectors Phenology Accession Number Accession Source Supplemental Information

Types of data? Collector Plant features Flower color, phenology, plant habit, size, etc. Geography (specific latitude/longitude) Maps Habitat Substrate type, topography Community associates Rarity

Floras versus Monographs? Flora - treatment documenting all plants of a given region, e.g., Flora of Palomar Mountain State Park Monograph - treatment documenting all taxa of a given taxonomic group e.g., Monograph of the genus Tephrosia