Collections

Malagasy bryophyte collections

Main Herbaria

for Malagasy bryophytes

Collections are held in various herbaria all over the world. The first explorations of Madagascar for bryophytes were conducted between 1850–1920. These historical collections are generally spread across a handful of different European herbarium.
Renewed efforts into the study of Malagasy bryophytes began in the 1970s, especially concerning the liverworts. Many of these collections are still waiting for curation and taxonomic study.

Each herbarium has its own acronym, published in the Index Herbariorum maintained by the New York Botanical Garden. Here we list TAN, PC, MO, G, EGR and hope to add many others as the project progresses.

TAN, Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza, Antananarivo, Madagascar

TAN is the herbarium housed in Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza (PBZT). It contains 6,000–10,000 collections of bryophytes.
An on-going project (BRYOTAN) funded by the GBIF BID aims to digitize and georeference all the bryophytes in TAN and publish these data through GBIF.
Some targeted images of each species will also be made available on the web.

PC, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France

PC (Paris Cryptogams) is a part of the French national herbarium (P). It contains many historical collections, especially of mosses. Around 5,000 specimens have been databased on SONNERAT, including all the types. 
 However, more than 20,000 Malagasy specimens are estimated to be in the general herbarium. Basic information on these remaining specimens is currently being databased as part of the MadBryo project. In addition, a significant backlog of older collections still remains largely uncurated.

MO, Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis, USA

MO is the acronym for the Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium (MBG). MBG has engaged in botanical research in Madagascar since the 1970s and now employs several permanent staff members based out of its office in Antananarivo that assist in the management of 13 protected areas in Madagascar. MBG botanists have made many bryophyte collections over the years but until recently a significant portion of these specimens remained on shelves awaiting curation. This backlog has now all been databased and sorted taxonomically as part of the MadBryo project. MBG also maintains the Catalog of the Plants of Madagascar hosted via the Tropicos database.

G, Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva, Switzerland

G (CJBG) with over 6 million specimens, is the 7th largest herbarium in the world. The herbarium at G contains both historical and modern collections, as well as over 117,600 types. The cryptogamic herbarium, that houses around 1 million specimens of algae, fungi, bryophytes and ferns, contains several key bryophyte collections (the hepatic collection of Franz Stephani and the moss collection of Johannes Hedwig and Christian Friedrich Schwägrichen).

EGR, Eszterházy Károly University, Eger, Hungary

The EGR herbarium houses one of the largest collections of bryophytes in Europe, including many Malagasy specimens.
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