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Type Specimen Register
The Type Specimen Register of the United States National Herbarium was begun in 1966 and contains images and data for more than 90,000 type specimens of algae, lichens, bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Yet to be imaged are the lichens, bryophytes and algae, as well as any type that has been on loan since before the start of the project. Types that have been imaged are indicated with a bold letter 'I' at the end of the record.
The 'Guidelines and Resources' section describes some of our working methods and some issues with special collections.
Types in the U.S. National Herbarium are filed under the basionym and all queries search only the basionym fields. Over time we have added the current name to some records as specimens are annotated, and this name is also displayed.
Two search options are available. The 'quick search' leads directly to a single name. The 'full search' allows the user to select search fields, sort order, and output format.
Acknowledgements: Support for this project has been received from Smithsonian Institution Latino Center, the SI Assistant Secretary for Science, and the Comisión nacional para conocimiento y uso de la bioversidade (CONABIO).
The project is supported in part by NSF Grant IIS-03-25867. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views, opinions, or policy of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
If you have questions about the Type Specimen Register, contact John Boggan.
For more information on the type specimen imaging project, contact Rusty Russell.
The Type Specimen Register Imaging Project
See our Image Use Policy for restrictions on the use of these images. The 'Guidelines and Resources' section describes some of our working methods and some issues with special collections. Requests for high-resolution copies of images should be directed to Rusty Russell. All research related requests will be handled as a priority. Commercial, including not-for-profit, requests for high-resolution images will be charged according to the fee schedule.
During the first two years of the project, our digital studio included a PhaseOne Light Phase digital camera back on a Hasselblad body, strobes and reflectors, and IEEE 1394 (firewire) cabling. Post-processing of the resulting 18MB file was done in Photoshop 6.0 and saved as a TIF file using the bar code number of the specimen as the filename. These TIFs are archived. Derivatives for our web presentation (thumbnail, print size, screen size) are created in batches later.
Since late 2002, we upgraded to a PhaseOne H20 digital camera back. The original RAW file (48MB) is written to DVD and stored in the Department. The processed TIF file (62MB) is archived. All derivative generation remains the same. A newly imaged type specimen may be available online in an average of 7-10 working days.
Guidelines for processing specimens for the Type Specimen Register
and notes about collections of historical importance.
Report on the importance of distinguishing between John Donnell Smith's type material originally from his private Baltimore herbarium versus his distribution of type material to the US National Herbarium.
E. D. Merrill's Species Blancoanae
Merrill sent the first and most complete set of his specially prepared exsiccata of Species Blancoanae to the United States National Herbarium. The U.S. National Herbarium has inventoried all of Merrill's collection and has this information available for the scientific community.
Guidelines Used for Handling Types With Two Names
Guidelines for handling cases where one type specimen represents two names in the type herbarium. The US Type Specimen database currently contains 585 records which fall under this "type with two names" category.
Policy on Selecting Material for the Type Specimen Collection and Register
Not all of the types at the US National Herbarium are segregated in the type collection or included in the US Botanical Type Specimen Register.
Links to Useful Botanical References
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