Herbarium collections and genetic resource documentation at the Agronomy Institute Cluj-Napoca

Abstract

The importance of voucher specimens in genetic resource documentation is briefly discussed and the scientific herbarium of the Agronomy Institute Cluj-Napoca is presented. The first centuria of this Herbarium was edited in 1880, the main collectors and organizers were B. Pater, I. Prodan, Al. Buia and A. Nyarady. The development of the herbarium was connected with the foundation of the first independent Experiment Station of Medicinal Plants (1904) and the organization of the Seed Testing Station in Cluj (1884). In the first period of its existence the herbarium served for floristic research and for the preservation of voucher specimens cultivated on experimental fields; the second period was a truly floristic one, the third was characterized by floristics and weed research. The present period started in the early 70th-was influenced by genetic conservation strategies. The main Herbarium collection contains at present 27.175 registered specimens and about 11.100 unregistered sheats.

Keywords

• herbaria
• genetic resources
• History of botany