BERAU HERBARIUM

Arrangement of Herbarium Collections
The herbarium is a storehouse of valuable information, like a library. And like a library, it
must be arranged in such a way that information can easily be retrieved.
The Berau herbarium uses an alphabetical arrangement for families as well as for genera
and species. This makes it easy for non-specialists to find specimens, and unskilled
personnel can add mounted material to the herbarium.
Wooden boxes in cupboard pigeonholes are used to store specimens. Filing of specimens
starts at the top left hand corner (A) and moves down that column then moving to the top of
the second column of pigeonholes. The bottom left hand corner therefore contains
specimens starting with Z.
Figure 19: Rack with boxes for permanent storage of herbarium specimens
Outside, the contents
are labelled, for
example:
-Annonaceae
-Orophea
-hexandra
The species marking
is the alphabetically
lowest species in the
box.
Pests and treatments
Long-term preservation of herbarium specimens must involve constant vigilance to protect
them from damage by pests. Under humid tropical conditions insects and fungi pose two
serious threats.
Those insects most commonly found and the most destructive are:
Herbarium beetles
Cigarette, or tobacco beetles
Silverfish, or fish moths
Cockroaches
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