Herbarium: The Quest to Preserve and Classify the World's Plants

by Barbara M. Thiers

Overview

“A sweeping history of the origins, development, and future of herbaria and their role in plant consternation.” —The American Gardener

Since the 1500s, scientists have documented the plants and fungi that grew around them, organizing the specimens into collections. Known as herbaria, these archives helped give rise to botany as its own scientific endeavor.

Herbarium is a fascinating enquiry into this unique field of plant biology, exploring how herbaria emerged and have changed over time, who promoted and contributed to them, and why they remain such an important source of data for their new role: understanding how the world’s flora is changing. Barbara Thiers, director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden, also explains how recent innovations that allow us to see things at both the molecular level and on a global scale can be applied to herbaria specimens, helping us address some of the most critical problems facing the world today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604699302
Publisher:	Timber Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/08/2020
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	485,573
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Barbara M. Thiers is director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden, president of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, and vice president of the Natural Science Collections Alliance.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

The Origin of Herbaria 13

Herbaria and the Age of Botanical Exploration 39

Development of Herbaria in the United States 103

Development of Herbaria Around the World 165

The Future of Herbaria 219

Acknowledgments 243

Select References 247

Select Herbaria 251

Photo Credits 259

Index 263

Editorial Reviews

07/20/2020

Thiers, director of the New York Botanical Garden’s herbarium, delivers a fascinating and beautiful resource for gardeners about her field—the study of plants via dried and preserved specimens. She begins by highlighting the pioneering Luca Ghini (b.1490), an Italian physician and professor who first advanced the study of plants’ medicinal qualities from “a minor subdiscipline of medicine into an independent scientific endeavor.” Ghini is credited for creating the first herbarium—a book filled with pressed specimens of plants, glued onto the pages alongside annotations about a particular plant’s features, the circumstances behind its collection, its known medical properties, and other facts. “If handled carefully and kept protected from moisture, insects, and light,” the author notes, “a dried plant specimen could be preserved in this manner indefinitely.” Thiers tracks the discipline as it evolved, spurred by Renaissance scientific curiosity and more recently by technological advances, such as genetic sequencing tools that allow scientists to research extinct species using herbaria specimens. Today, she writes, there are some 390 million specimens held in 3,300 herbaria around the world, giving scientists a greater understanding of plant life generally, as well as a deeper understanding of how forces like climate change are affecting the environment. Green-thumbed readers will find this to be a stimulating intellectual adventure. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

With lavish illustrations of places and people; portraits of key players; herbaria specimens; and beautiful, full-color artists’ renderings, this carefully researched, detailed homage to herbaria will appeal to those deeply interested in plant exploration and botany.” —Library Journal

“A sweeping history of the origins, development, and future of herbaria and their role in plant consternation.” —The American Gardener

“One of the prettiest books of the season… a lovely coffee table book as well as a serious work on the history of scientific endeavor.” —The Napa Valley Register

“An enlightening tribute to the mysterious world of Herbaria that is meticulously researched, well organized, and above all accessible.” —Gardens Illustrated

“This illustrated account of the Herculean efforts of the early botanists in this field is absorbing and enlightening.” —The English Garden

“At its heart, Herbarium is a compelling reminder of one of humanity’s better impulses: to save things—not just for ourselves, but for posterity… A marvelous book about the ages, for the ages.” —The Nevada Native Plant Society

“Herbarium is sure to enchant anyone who has ever used a flower press or wished to learn more about plant classification, with vintage engravings and woodcuts of ancient plants.” —The Free Press

“Invaluable for any personal library on the history of plants and their future. It is beautifully produced.” —The Financial Times

“Gardeners with an interest in history will delight in Herbarium.” —Horticulture

“Thoroughly researched and written in a readable style…this coffee-table book is lavishly illustrated with herbarium specimens, people, places, and maps, it’s one of those glorious books where hours can easily be lost in reading and re-reading.” —RHS The Garden
 
“A great book on the history of herbaria…readers interested in biographies and history would find this a great book to read and to add to their library collection.” —Cultivate to Plate

“This beautifully illustrated history includes not just full-page examples of herbaria, but paintings, prints, maps, and photographs.” —Landscape Architecture

“This book gives life to botanical collections and is a brilliant work that can be read, understood, and enjoyed by everyone.” —The Journal of the American Botanical Council

“A journey through the history of botanical collecting… those vivid stories bring specimens to life.”—Plant Science Bulletin

“This sumptuously illustrated book will delight all botanists, whether their hearts lie in the field or in the herbarium…This is a book that belongs on every botanist’s bookshelf, for the wonderful stories contained within and for the marvelous illustrations of specimens that grace its pages.” —The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

From the Publisher

09/01/2020

Thiers began her career as a one-year postdoctoral fellowship recipient at the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden, ultimately becoming its director. Here the author examines the nearly six centuries that herbaria have been documenting the world's plants and fungi. She begins with European and U.S. plant-collecting expeditions, sharing information about key explorers/scientists and their travels, and the specimens they discovered and prepared, followed by later developments in herbaria in these parts of the world. Thiers chooses four additional countries to profile: Australia, Brazil, China, and South Africa, covering early exploration, founding botanists, and modern herbaria for each. She shares information about the importance of digitization and sharing of collections as well as the current uses of herbaria from DNA studies to predicting changes to biodiversity, and the importance and future of herbaria. The author concludes with a selected list of herbaria located around the world. VERDICT With lavish illustrations of places and people; portraits of key players; herbaria specimens; and beautiful, full-color artists' renderings, this carefully researched, detailed homage to herbaria will appeal to those deeply interested in plant exploration and botany.—Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove, IL

Library Journal