Herbariums

Type specimens are (usually) dried and pressed plants, mounted on paper, stored in a herbarium and used to describe a new species. Associated with the specimen are details of its collection including where it was collected, when and by whom. Being able to access herbarium specimens is key to understanding what makes a species distinct and what variation the plants exhibit. Under Resources in the main menu of Primula World is a list of Herbaria that has collections of special interest to the study of Primula. This list is always being updated with more links, so check back frequently. If you know of a herbarium that should be on the list, please contact the webmaster. There is a great reference to the kinds of types at the New York Botanic Garden.


RBGE Herbarium image by Paul Macrae (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) from Flickr

There a several great videos about herbariums below that are worth watching:


 
 
 

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