Naturalis' herbarium is the result of four major university herbariums that have been combined. The result is a extensive collection of plants and fungi from around the world. The herbarium includes about seven million specimens and specializes in the following regions: The Netherlands, Southeast Asia, the Guianas and Central and West Africa. The herbarium is taxonomically arranged and follows the latest insights. Within the taxonomic classification, a region classification is maintained.
Highlights
Naturalis manages one of the largest wood collections in the world, where lots of wood anatomical research is conducted. In addition to the regular scientific collection, the historical botanical collections are managed here: collections from the 16th-18th centuries collected by famous botanists and mycologists. The entire collection includes roughly 70,000 type specimens. The herbarium has collections from all over the world, and it covers a period from the 16th century to the present. The oldest and most famous herbarium is in this subcollection: the Italian En Tibi herbarium from the sixteenth century.
Importantcollections
The plants that Philip von Siebold collected in Japan are housed in this collection; a collection that is still the subject of a great deal of research devoted to Japanese flora. Other historical collections of world importance are the Gabon Collection, the Van Royen Herbarium and the Persoon Fungarium: a collection of fungi by the mycologist who described a many species that still exist today and to which is always referred when new species are discovered.
NationalHerbarium
As a confluence of four university herbariums, a world-class collection has emerged and, as the former National Herbarium of the Netherlands, is also the place where the most important collections of Dutch flora are preserved and studied. The economic botany/ethnobotany collection is another collection component worthy of attention: plant use in the present and past is the focus of this subcollection, from about two hundred years ago to the present. Active research is also being conducted here.
Who work with this?
Moreinformation
- The botanische collection in GBIF
- The Naturalis collection is searchable through our Bioportal