The Bryophyte Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, London (BM)
With over 1 million bryophyte specimens, the Natural History Museum's bryophyte herbarium (BM) is among the largest and most comprehensive in the world. The collection provides a unique source of critical data for the international bryological community, supporting research on taxonomy, habitat conservation and environmental monitoring over historical periods of time.
The type specimen of Polytrichum robustum
Müll.Hal. ex Cardot (= Polytrichum subpilosum
P.Beauv.) collected by Hildebrandt in central Madagascar in 1880 (BM001087974).
Microscopic images from the type specimen of Calymperes sancta-mariae
Besch. (= Calymperes tenerum
Müll.Hal.) collected by Boivin from Nosy Boraha, previously known as Sainte-Marie, in 1851 (BM000855051).
The BM bryophyte herbarium holds around 3-5000 bryophyte specimens from Madagascar. Some 741 have been databased so far and are available on the Museum’s data portal https://data.nhm.ac.uk/. Of these, 529 specimens represent nomenclatural types or original material of unpublished names. These are mostly moss collections, as the numerous type specimens of liverworts and hornworts in BM are yet to be systematically digitised.
BM holds collections by 19th Century bryological travellers in Madagascar, such as Ed. Marie and J. Bory de St Vincent, which were the basis of new taxa described by É. Bescherelle, and also holds duplicates of original material of many Madagascan taxa described by Renauld & Cardot. The primary original material of moss species described by C. Müller of Halle was largely destroyed in World War II, but duplicates of his type specimens are well-represented in BM, including original material collected in Madagascar by J. M. Hildebrandt. Collections are also well-represented by less well-known early collectors of Madagascan bryophytes, such as W. Deans Cowan, C. Darbould, J.V. Thompson, A. Pervillé and the Rev. Camboué; these include many type specimens.
ProjectRelevant collections from neighbouring regions
The herbarium is richly endowed with both recent and historical bryophyte collections from regions neighbouring Madagascar. These collections are highly relevant in terms of taxonomic review of the Malagasy flora and range from 19th Century material from islands in the Indian Ocean, such as La Réunion, which were described by Émile Bescherelle, to significant 20th/21st Century collections, such as those by Alan H. Norkett in the Seychelles (1973-74), Francis Rose in Uganda (1960s), Brian O’Shea et al. in Malawi (1991) and Uganda (1997), and Len Ellis & Jo Wilbraham in La Réunion (2008).