HERBARIUM SPECIMEN

Introduction

Tr aditionally, herbarium was a book of collected raw

plant material that had been pressed or preserved to aid in
the research of using plants for medicinal purposes.
Usually, all parts of the plant were represented including the
roots, stems, leaves, and fruits. The collector would then
annotate the page with identification remarks and
findings.

In the present year, herbarium has evolved to a place where such documentation resides. More of a
library or museum with huge data banks of material for education and research. One of the largest
Herbaria is the Kew Herbarium located in England with more than 6 million specimens. Here in the
Philippines,PNH ( Philippine National Herbarium) approximately collected with the total number of
180,000 mounted and accessioned specimens include angiosperms (flowering plants), gymnosperms
(cone-bearing plants), pteridophytes (ferns and fern allies), bryophytes (mosses, hepatics and
liverworts), algae, and fungi.The Botany Division which curates and maintains the plant collections also
conducts research studies in basic sciences.

General Spatial Coverage

Specimen have been mainly collected in BUCAF butterfly garden

( Guinobatan, Albay) namely Katakataka ( bryophyllum pinnatum), orchids
(orchidaceae) and yellowbell (Allamanda cathartica) with the coordinates:
N13 11.607' latitude and E123 35.806' longitude.

Methods

. Dried and pressed method has been adopted for preservation of the
specimens deposited in the collection. After collection of specimens in the
field (see “sampling description” for the collection protocol) they are pressed
and dried with the aim of adapting them to a flat surface and remove water
from the tissue, thereby preventing their degeneration or attacks by
bacteria, fungi or insects that would destroy them.