Auckland Herbarium
Auckland War Memorial Museum
Private Bag 92018
Auckland 1
New Zealand
Fax: [64] 9/ 379 9956
Web: http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/about-our-collections/natural-science/botany
Ewen Cameron, Curator
Email: ecameron@aucklandmuseum.com
The botanical collections of the Auckland Museum Herbarium were first established in 1870, about 18 years after the Museum was founded. The Herbarium provides the basic means by which the Museums Botany Department can carry out the collection and preservation of botanical materials. It also provides educational services (through public enquiries, individual and group visits, outreach programmes, and the display of plant material), and research and publication on various aspects of the New Zealand flora.
Scope of the collections
The Herbarium contains comprehensive collections of all plant groups (except fungi) found naturally in New Zealand, with emphasis on the northern half of the North Island and its offshore islands. Islands with strong representation include: the Kermadecs, Three Kings, Motuopao, Moturoas, Stephenson, Cavallis, Bay of Islands, Rimariki, Poor Knights, Hen and Chickens, Mokohinaus, Little Barrier, Great Barrier, inner Hauraki Gulf, Coromandel, Cuvier, Mercury, Aldermen, Shoe, Slipper, Mayor, Rurima, Whale, Kapiti, and Chetwodes.
The New Zealand collection includes both native and naturalised species, cultivated material, and a range of timber samples. A sizeable overseas collection, obtained by long-standing exchange with herbaria around the world is also held. The donated herbaria of LEV and AKU have been incorporated. The herbarium is based on the collections of Thomas F. Cheeseman made between 1870 and 1920 (and is occasionally termed the Cheeseman Herbarium). It contains many historical specimens and numerous types.
Cataloguing our collections
The Museums Herbarium holds over 333,000 botanical specimens, including 200,000 angiosperms, 5,000 gymnosperms, 30,000 pteridophytes, 21,500 mosses, 12,300 liverworts, 22,000 algae, 27,200 lichens, and 1,000 timber samples. In 1989, computerised herbarium management enabled the electronic storage of information regarding individual species and specimens. All new accessions since 1989, have been recorded electronically. There have also been ongoing projects, funded by the NZ Lottery Board, to enter backlog records. As of October 2010 over 227,000 records have been databased including all non-vascular specimens and all vascular material collected in New Zealand.