An Introduction to the Botanical Type Specimen Register

ABSTRACT
Shetler, Stanwyn G., with Mary Jane Petrini, Constance Graham Carley, M. J.
Harvey, Larry E. Morse, Thomas E. Kopfler, and Collaborators. An Introduc-
tion to the Botanical Type Specimen Register. Srnithsonian Contributions to
Botany, number 12, 186 pages, 3 figures, frontispiece, 1973.--In the first part,
the development of a computer-based system for storing and retrieving infonna-
tion about botanical type specimens is described from its pilot stage to its present
operational stage. The concept, purpose, and scope are explained, and the
operational procedures are outlined. Ways of using and contributing to this
computerized register of types, both in the short-run and in the longrun, are
proposed. A statistical summary of the content of the Type Register as of 30
September 1972 is given. Over 13,000 specimens representing more than 10,000
taxa have been registered. The second part consists of a Catalog of more than'
1,000 specimens representing over 600 taxa of the genus Carex (Cyperaceae),
which are deposited in ten major American herbaria, and the Catalog is cross-
indexed five different ways: by author, publication date, collector, country, and
herbarium. An introduction summarizes the preparation and editing of the
Catalog. This Carex Catalog represents the first published installment of the
Type Register and as such is intended to serve as an example.
COLLABORATORS
Listed here by institution are the persons who have collaborated in the compiling of
data from their respective herbaria for the Carex Catalog:
California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, Sun Francisco, California 94118;
Stanford University (Dudley Herbarium), Stanford, CaGifornia 94305; University of Cali-
fornia (Herbarium) , Berkeley, California 94720
Dr. John H. Thomas, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Curator of Dudley
Herbarium (Stanford), Curator of Botany (Acad-my) , and compiler of data at Berkeley;
assisted by Dr. Margaret Sharp
Field Museum of Xatural History, Roosevelt Road at Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, Illinois
60605
Dr. Lt'illiam C. Burger, Associate Curator of Vascular Plants: assisted by Mr. Ronald L.
Liesner
Harvard University, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cam bridge, Massachusetts 02138
Dr. Richard 4. Howard, Director, Arnold Arboretum; Dr. Reed C. Rollins, Asa Gray
Professor of Systematic Botany and Director of the Gray Herbarium
Missouri Botanical Garden, 2315 Tower Grove Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110
Dr. IValter H. Lewis, Senior Botanist, Professor of Biology (Washington University);
assisted by Dr. Raymond F. Altevogt
h'ew York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York 10458
Dr. Howard S. Irwin, Director: Dr. Patricia Kern Holmgren, Associate Curator and
Herbarium Administrator; Dr. Noel H. Holmgren, Associate Curator
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 20560
Dr. Mason E. Hale, Curator of Cryptogams; Dr. Dan H. Nicolson, Associate Curator of
Phanerogams
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded
in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. SI PRESS NUMBER 4783. SERIES
COVFR DESIGN: Leaf clearing from the katsura tree Cercidiphjlluin japonicum Siebold and
luccarini.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Shetler, Stanwyn G.
An introduction to the botanical type specimen register.
(Smithsonian contributions to botany, no. 12.)
Bibliography: p.
1, Information storage and retrieval systems-Botany-Type specimens. 2. Carex. I. Title. 11.
Title: Botanical tjpe specimen register. 111. Series: Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian
contributions to botany, no. 12.
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