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    Herbarium

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    kaliiimuddin123
    The document discusses herbariums, which are collections of dried plant specimens mounted on paper. Herbariums allow experts to identify and preserve plants, with specimens labeled and organized by scientific name. The largest herbariums contain millions of specimens dating back centuries and are important references for taxonomy, identification, and research across various fields such as ecology and conservation.

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    Herbarium

    Uploaded by

    kaliiimuddin123
    13 views3 pages
    The document discusses herbariums, which are collections of dried plant specimens mounted on paper. Herbariums allow experts to identify and preserve plants, with specimens labeled and organized by scientific name. The largest herbariums contain millions of specimens dating back centuries and are important references for taxonomy, identification, and research across various fields such as ecology and conservation.

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    Herbarium

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    The document discusses herbariums, which are collections of dried plant specimens mounted on paper. Herbariums allow experts to identify and preserve plants, with specimens labeled and organized by scientific name. The largest herbariums contain millions of specimens dating back centuries and are important references for taxonomy, identification, and research across various fields such as ecology and conservation.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    13 views3 pages

    Herbarium

    Uploaded by

    kaliiimuddin123
    The document discusses herbariums, which are collections of dried plant specimens mounted on paper. Herbariums allow experts to identify and preserve plants, with specimens labeled and organized by scientific name. The largest herbariums contain millions of specimens dating back centuries and are important references for taxonomy, identification, and research across various fields such as ecology and conservation.

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    herbarium, collection of dried plant specimens mounted on sheets of paper.

    The plants are usually collected in situ (e.g., where they were growing in
    nature), identified by experts, pressed, and then carefully mounted to archival
    paper in such a way that all major morphological characteristics are visible
    (i.e., both sides of the leaves and the floral structures). The mounted plants are
    labeled with their proper scientific names, the name of the collector, and,
    usually, information about where they were collected and how they grew and
    general observations. The specimens are commonly filed in cases according to
    families and genera and are available for ready reference. Herbarium
    collections are often housed in botanical gardens, arboretums, natural history
    museums, and universities. The largest herbaria, many of which are in
    Europe, contain several million specimens, some of which date back hundreds
    of years. Herbaria are the “dictionaries” of the plant kingdom and provide
    comparative material that is indispensable for studies in plant taxonomy and
    systematics. Given that nearly every plant species has a dried “type specimen”
    on which its description and Latin name are based, taxonomic disputes are
    commonly resolved by referencing type specimens in herbaria. The collections
    are also essential to the proper naming of unknown plants and to the
    identification of new species. erbarium
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    Alternate titles: herbaria

    By Melissa Petruzzello • Edit History

    Table of Contents

    herbarium, collection of dried plant specimens mounted on sheets of paper. The


    plants are usually collected in situ (e.g., where they were growing in nature), identified
    by experts, pressed, and then carefully mounted to archival paper in such a way that all
    major morphological characteristics are visible (i.e., both sides of the leaves and the
    floral structures). The mounted plants are labeled with their proper scientific names, the
    name of the collector, and, usually, information about where they were collected and
    how they grew and general observations. The specimens are commonly filed in cases
    according to families and genera and are available for ready reference.
    herbarium sheet

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    plant

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    Herbarium collections are often housed in botanical gardens, arboretums, natural


    history museums, and universities. The largest herbaria, many of which are in Europe,
    contain several million specimens, some of which date back hundreds of years. Herbaria
    are the “dictionaries” of the plant kingdom and provide comparative material that is
    indispensable for studies in plant taxonomy and systematics. Given that nearly every
    plant species has a dried “type specimen” on which its description and Latin name are
    based, taxonomic disputes are commonly resolved by referencing type specimens in
    herbaria. The collections are also essential to the proper naming of unknown plants and
    to the identification of new species.
    herbarium sheet
    Herbarium sheet of big-toothed maple (Acer grandidentatum).

    Courtesy of Grand Canyon National Park, GRCA 89329. Photo by Sam Minkler, Northern
    Arizona University.

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    In addition to their taxonomic import, herbaria are commonly used in the fields
    of ecology, plant anatomy and morphology, conservation
    biology, biogeography, ethnobotany, and paleobotany. The sheets provide
    biogeographic information that can be used to document the historic ranges of plants,
    to locate rare or endangered species, or to trace the expeditions of explorers and plant
    collectors. Physically, the specimens are important sources of genetic material
    for DNA analyses and of pollen for palynological studies.

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