What is an herbarium?
An herbarium specimen is a preserved specimen of a plant, alga, or fungus, usually mounted on archival paper and associated with a label detailing the collector, location and date it was collected. Herbarium specimens are stored in an herbarium, which act as preserved reference collections vital to many areas of science.
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Some of TCD herbarium’s main functions are to:
- Act as a source of raw data on plants and plant species, including their distributions, morphology, ecology, or human uses
- Facilitate plant identification, within Ireland and beyond
- Act as a repository for type specimens. These are specimens used in the publication of new plant names, and are of vital importance for determining how those names should be applied
- Support the research and research activities of Botany, the School of Natural Sciences, and Trinity College Dublin as a whole
The TCD herbarium is not only a historical archive, but also an active research collection, where the specimens are regularly worked on by students and researchers using a suite of modern and traditional methods. The collection spans the globe with specimens dating back to the 1600s, covering all major groups of plants, algae, and fungi, and are associated with a comprehensive botanical library. We host visitors from around the world and regularly satisfy requests to receive material on loan and images of specific specimens.
While there are only two herbaria in Ireland, there are more than 3500 active herbaria worldwide hosting around 400 million specimens. Every one of these herbaria holds a unique set of specimens and data. The particular strengths of TCD herbarium lie in its high percentage of type specimens (c.15% of specimens), and unique material collected by collectors including Coulter, Harvey and Kerr. The TCD herbarium is one of the largest and most historically important algal herbaria in the world.
In short, the herbarium contains a significant proportion of the botanical heritage of Ireland. Its collections and archives document the large contribution made by Ireland, its scientists, and their collaborators to our knowledge of global plant diversity.
Our collections contain historic materials which may contain terminology which is inappropriate, outdated, offensive, or distressing. Such material does not reflect the current values of Trinity College Dublin. We further note that the values, motives, and methods of many collectors whose material we host do not satisfy our values or modern best practices.
We would welcome feedback about the language or any other aspect of the content of our collections. While we cannot change certain data associated with our collections (e.g. species names), we will consider all requests for changes to any other aspects of our collection data.