About the Herbarium

WHAT IS A HERBARIUM?

A herbarium is a collection of pressed, dried, and labeled plant specimens arranged and stored in a systematic manner. This “library” of plant specimens is a vital resource for biodiversity, ecological, evolutionary, and taxonomic studies. For instance, herbarium specimens serve as references for identification, aid in species discovery, document the plant diversity of a particular geographic area and the geographic distribution of a particular plant species, provide information about the plants themselves (such as their appearance, cells, chemical compounds, genetic materials, and flowering times) and their habitats (such as the vegetation type and the physical environment), help to track environmental changes and to assess conservation threats, and are a source of data that find more uses in various scientific disciplines. The practice of making herbarium collections is attributed to the Italian physician and botanist Luca Ghini (1490–1556). Today, there are more than 4,000 herbaria worldwide, associated with botanical gardens, museums, research institutions, and universities. Together, they house over 403 million plant specimens that hold nearly 500 years of invaluable data about Earth’s plant life. Each plant specimen is unique in that it represents a particular species at a particular time in a particular place.

History

The Claude E. Phillips Herbarium (DOV) was founded in 1977 by Norman H. Dill and Arthur O. Tucker, two former professors within the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Delaware State University. Starting with only two cabinets of plant specimens, DOV is now the largest herbarium within Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and the only public one on the Delmarva Peninsula. Through continuous enrichment efforts, it has become a center for documentation, education and research within the region. Incorporated collections are 50,000 specimens from DELS (University of Delaware) formerly from the Society of Natural History of Delaware, transferred to DOV in 1980; E. Tatnall collection from COCO (Colorado College), sent on permanent loan to DOV in 1980; Delmarva specimens, Apiaceae and Lamiaceae from LCU (Catholic University of America) donated to DOV in 1986; and 24,500 bryophytes and lichens from W.J. Hoe’s collection transferred to DOV in 2002.

Mission

The Claude E. Phillips Herbarium (DOV) serves as a botanical resource center in Delaware in support of research, education, and extension activities.

Notable Collectors

Collections at DOV are the results of the cumulative efforts of many botanists from the 18th century through the 21st century. Significant contributions are from: R.M. Austin, H.R. Baker, W.M. Canby (and his correspondents), A. Commons, N.H. Dill, W.J. Hoe, C.O. Houghton, F.M. Jones, W.D. Longbottom, W.A. McAvoy, R.F.C. Naczi, H. O’Neill, J.P. Otis, J.T. Pennypacker, C.E. Phillips, P.J.D. Redmond, A.V. Smith, W.S. Taber, E. Tatnall, R.R. Tatnall, I.F. Tidestrom, and A.O. Tucker.

Types and historically important specimens

Type specimens are the most valuable specimens in any herbarium and the relatively high number of types at DOV is one indication of the scientific and historic riches of the Claude E. Phillips Herbarium. So far, 834 of DOV’s specimens have been authenticated as types, of which 25 are bryophytes and lichens and 809 are vascular plants. Sixty-four other specimens are possible types, types of unpublished names, or types of homonyms and 141 specimens are paratypes. Of the 809 authenticated type specimens of vascular plants, 366 alone are from C.G. Pringle’s collections. Other notable collectors include A.H. Curtiss (41 types), W.C. Cusick (48 types), A.A. Heller (126 types), and G.V. Nash (75 types).

DOV houses a wealth of historically important specimens and a few noteworthy ones are Teucrium pyrenaicum (Lamiaceae, mint family), collected in 1799 by Niels Hofman-Bang in the Pyrénées (France) and the oldest specimen at the herbarium; Verbascum blattaria (Scrophulariaceae, snapdragon family), collected in 1827 by William Hodgson Jr. in Darley Road (northernmost Delaware) and the oldest specimen from Delmarva at DOV. Other historically important collections include the complete and unbroken exsiccatae of H.P. Sartwell, a physician of the mid-1800s in New York and an avid collector of sedges, who assembled two sets of specimens (1st set: 70 specimens [1848]; 2nd set: 88 specimens [1850]).