The aim of the ‘Global Plants Initiative’ is to scan types from herbaria all over the world and to make the digital scans available. A ‘type’ is a kind of certificate of birth: it was used to describe a plant new to science. About 1.8 million type specimens have been scanned within the framework of this project.
In Austria both the Natural History Museum Vienna and the Institute for Botany at the University of Vienna have participated in this initiative.
Viennese Herbaria have participated in the “Plants Initiative” since 2005, enabling the digitalization of 39,312 type specimens. This year we shall receive further support to continue digitizing approximately 10,000 more specimens.
The database ‘Virtual Herbaria’ ? developed in Vienna ? provides access to the digital scans and is also used in other herbaria. A total of 81,000 type specimens, as well as a large amount of herbarium specimens, are hence available. Most images of the Austrian Flora are available through ‘Botanik-im-Bild’.
The botanical department of the Natural History Museum contains about 5.5 million specimens from all over the world. Amongst them are countless specimens of historical importance, originating not only from our own expeditions but also through exchange with prominent institutions around the world.
Although about one sixth of the botanical collections were destroyed in World War II, the herbarium of the Natural History Museum Vienna, with its more than 200,000 type specimens, is among the five most important herbaria in the world.
The geographical focus of the collections lies in Europe in the area of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Central Europe, as well as the Mediterranean, in particular Greece and Turkey. In Asia the main focus is in the Orient, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Flora Iranica. African collections mostly originate from Tunisia, East- and Central Africa, as well as the Cape Regions. Core regions in South America include Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. The herbarium also contains considerable collections from Australia and New Zealand.
If you would like to know more about the Foundation and it’s program areas, please visit www.mellon.org.