Rooted in History: Digitizing the Herbarium

EVER 10844, Herbarium sheet

South Florida Collections Management Center, National Park Service

You may be asking yourself, "What is so exciting about dried up plants?" The short answer is: everything!

From history to forensics, herbaria collections are important resources for science research and planning decisions. An Herbarium is a collection of dried plants and their associated data cataloged and stored in a systematic way for research and use. Herbaria collections, like the ones maintained at the South Florida Collections Management Center and at National Park units around the United States document the developing, preserved, restored and altered ecology of these natural places. They are the physical representation of a written observation. In National Park units this is most obviously represented by the NPSpecies list of plants and animals seen within park boundaries. By looking at an herbarium, scientists and researchers can track distribution and movement of invasive plants which combined with habitat restoration efforts can provide a more robust and proactive mitigation plan.

The herbaria collection of the five parks stored at the SFCMC includes over 12,500 plant specimens and over 3,500 fungi specimens. In March 2019 we sent over 1,600 herbarium to the University of South Florida Herbarium where they are being photographed at a high resolution.

When they return, nearly all of our cataloged plant specimens will have high quality digital images that will be made available for use. A digital collection grants a wider access to information. Through flowering cycles and seasonal changes, dispersal rates and shifts in the environment, scientists, researchers and plant enthusiasts across the nation and the world can see how our local herbaria plays a larger role in the regional and global context.

Alexandra Carrier
Museum Technician