In the herbarium: the hidden world of collecting and preserving plants

Abstract

"Maura C. Flannery tells the history of herbaria, from the earliest collections belonging to such advocates of the technique as sixteenth-century botanist Luca Ghini, to the collections of poets, politicians, and painters, and to the digitization of these precious specimens today. She charts the growth of herbaria during the Age of Exploration, the development of classification systems to organize the collections, and herbaria's indispensable role in the tracking of climate change and molecular evolution. Herbaria also have historical, aesthetic, cultural, and ethnobotanical value--these preserved plants can be linked to the Indigenous peoples who used them, the collectors who sought them out, and the scientists who studied them."-- Book jacket

Contents

Opening hidden gardens -- Rooted in an herbarium -- Early botany -- The technology and art of herbaria -- Early exploration -- The value of collecting -- Linnaeus and classification -- Botanical exploration -- Gardens -- Managing exploration and collecting -- Natural history and botany -- Evolution and botany -- Changing botany -- Useful plants and ethnobotany -- Understanding and conserving biodiversity -- Online herbaria -- A broader vision: herbaria and culture -- Herbaria blooming -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.