Transcript Asteraceae (Compositae) - SDSU College of Sciences

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. 1990. Index herbariorum, part I: The
herbaria of the world, 8th ed. New York: New
York Botanical Garden.
http://www.nybg.org/bsci/ih/ih.html
(continuously updated)
Index Herbariorum
Herbarium
Year Founded Acronym
Specimens
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris France
1635
P,PC
9,500,000
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, U.S.A.
1891
NY
7,000,000
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, U.K.
1841
K
7,000,000
Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques, Genève, Switzerland
1824
G
6,000,000
Komarov Botanical Institute, St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia
1823
LE
5,770,000
Missouri botanical Garden, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
1859
MO
5,400,000
The Natural Hisotry Museum, London, England, U.K.
1753
BM
5,200,000
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
1864
GH
5,005,000
(incl. A,AMES,ECON,FH,NEBC)
Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien, Austria
1807
W
5,000,000
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
1739
S
4,400,000
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
1848
US, USNC 4,368,000
Institute de Botanique, Montpellier, France
1845
MPU
4,000,000
Université de Lyon, Villeurbane, France
1924
LY
4,000,000
Universitatis Florentinae, Museo botanico, Firenze, Italy
1842
FI
3,650,000
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany
1895
JE
3,000,000
Herbarium
Specimen?
Size and format
of herbarium
specimen?
Herbarium Label?
Herbarium Curator?
Person responsible for running the herbarium.
1)
2)
3)
4)
Maintaining collection.
Processing new collections to the herbarium.
Distributing loans.
Resource for plant identification.
Accession number?
Permanent number associated with each specimen.
Usually written with herbarium acronym:
SD 121596
SDSU 13655
UC 218486
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 upsidedown.
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