Introduction to the RHS Herbarium

Introduction

Herbarium specimen of Iris - photograph copyright RHS An herbarium is a collection of pressed, dried plants which are used for scientific study. The pressed specimens retain many of the important botanical characteristics of the living plant, forming a valuable and virtually permanent reference resource. Additional information such as colour, which is lost during drying, and plant habit are included on the accompanying labels. As well as pressed specimens, the herbarium maintains collections of cones and seeds used for identification and a collection of photographs and paintings.

Cultivated plants

Most herbaria are concerned primarily with wild plants from various parts of the world. However, at the RHS Herbarium housed in the Laboratory at RHS Garden Wisley, the emphasis is on ornamental garden plants. This collection amounts to about 75,000 specimens, and this number is increasing all the time. The oldest specimen is one of Lavandula angustifolia from 1731 but the majority of specimens are from the last 50 years. The concept of nomenclatural standard specimens and Standard Portfolios have been developed for cultivated plants at Wisley to loosely equate to the Type specimens for new wild species.

Specimens

Specimens are collected from the RHS Trials , from plants exhibited at RHS flower shows, from the RHS gardens , from National Collections, from material received for verification and of plants which have received RHS awards such as the Award of Garden Merit . Within the Herbarium is held in addition a collection of documents and field notes relating to plant collecting expeditions in various parts of the world. As well as such well-known collectors as Forrest, Kingdon-Ward and Wilson, there is data on many more recent expeditions. The Hanbury Herbarium, a collection of about 12,000 wild European plants collected during the late nineteenth century and donated to the Society by Frederick Hanbury in 1936 is also maintained.

Pressing plants

Herbarium cabinets - photograph copyright RHS The technique of drying and pressing specimens has been used for about 500 years. Providing they are kept dry and free of insects, such dried specimens can be preserved almost indefinitely. To aid preservation, over the last three years the original wooden herbarium cabinets have been replaced by modern cabinets and the RHS is very grateful to the Dulverton Trust for their support.

Loan of material

The RHS Herbarium is mainly used by RHS botanists and other staff for identification and research .
In many cases, specimens may be borrowed by bona-fide researchers. To download a loan request form (23KB) in a printable format click here.

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