Scope of the Collection

Founded in 1945, the herbarium contains approximately 24,000 specimens. The collection focuses on plants significant to plantation and indigenous forestry in New Zealand, holding specimens from throughout New Zealand but particularly from the central North Island. The herbarium is increasing its specimen records of amenity trees in New Zealand.

Eucalypts and conifers together comprise approximately 24% of the collection. Of the almost 3000 conifer specimens, 25% are pines. The herbarium has a good coverage of cultivated species of eucalypts, with almost 2800 specimens, representing ca. 360 species.

Other plantation tree species are well represented and there are specimens of forest trees from Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Mexico.

There is a small collection of plant specimens from a "buried forest" site at Pureora, in the central North Island, where plants have been preserved in a wetland area since the Taupo eruption of ca. AD 130.

For more information on the herbarium collection, contact, Chris Ecroyd: .

Major plant groups as a percentage of the collection as at September 2004

Collaboration opportunities

• Exchange of herbarium specimens of forest tree species, particularly conifers and eucalypts
• Plant biodiversity studies
• Development of an interactive key for identifying cultivated pines

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