National Herbarium of Ukraine Herbarium   KW

Herbarium of vascular plants (KW) contains 1,5 million specimens and consists of 5 sections: flora of Ukraine, flora of CIS (the former USSR territory), flora of the world, exchange stock, memorial herbarium collections (J.Gilibert, W. Besser, P.Rogowich, M.Turczaninow, V.Chernjaev, I.Schmalhausen, M.Klokov), including type collections.

Collections of Ukraine's flora (700 000 specimens) is the main part of the KW Herbarium. The oldest materials (XIX century) were collected by W. Besser, A. Andrzejowsky, F.Marschall von Bieberstein, P. Rogowich, I. Schmalhausen, V.Montresor, V.Chernjaev, V.Taliev, G.Shiryaev, and others. There are rich collections (XX century ) of M.Kotov, Yu.Kleopow, D.Dobrochaeva, O.Dubovik, A.Barbarych, G.Kuznetsova, G.Bilyk and others. All species of vascular plants of the flora of Ukraine are well repesented. During the taxonomic study of some families and genera of Ukraine's flora, the serial herbarium material was collected: Boraginaceae; Centaurea L. (D.Dobrochaeva); Poaceae, Rosa L., Genista L., Astragalus L., Galium L. (O. Dubovik); Equisetaceae, Amaranthaceae, Chenopodiaceae; Artemisia L., Erigeron L., Xanthium L. (V.Protopopova); Chenopodiaceae, Amaranthaceae; Artemisia L. (S.Mosyakin); Alliaceae (T. Myakushko); Astragalus L., Lotus L., Onobrychis Mill., Medicago L., Achillea L. (L.Krytzka); Ranunculaceae (S.Ziman); Apiaceae; Crataegus L., Vicia L. (M.Fedoronchuk); Chamaecytisus Link, Oenothera L. (M.Shevera), Brassicaceae (A.Iljinska), and other taxonomic groups. Synanthropic plants are also well represented (M.Kotov, V.Protopopova, S.Mosyakin, M.Shevera).

The Herbarium of CIS countries (250 000 specimens) occupies the second place among the collections of vascular plants. Its funds are composed on the basis of herbarium collections by the staff of the Institute and of exchange with other botanical institutions of the USSR. The richest among them are the materials from the Far East, Kamchatka, the Kurils, Siberia, the European part of the former USSR, the Caucasus, the Urals, Central Asia, etc. Rich material in some taxonomic groups was collected: Asteraceae (Centaurea L., Асhillea L., Hieracium L., Senecio L.), Campanulaceae (Campanula L.), Caryophyllaceae (Dianthus L., Silene L.), Chenopodiaceae (Chenopodium L., Salsola L.), Cyperaceae (Сarex L.), Fabaceae (Astragalus L., Medicago L.), Poaceae (Festuca L., Stipa L.), Polygonaceae (Polygonum L.), Ranunculaceae (Anemone L., Ranunculus L.), Rosaceae (Rosa L.).

Herbarium collections of the world flora (170 000 specimens) contain materials from many countries and continents: North and South America, the Mediterranean region, western Europe, Mongolia, northern Africa, Asia Minor, Australia, East Asia.

The most important component of the Herbarium of vascular plants is personal collections. They contain information about species composition of taxa and territories, and also reflect the character and scientific standards of botanical studies for certain historical periods.

The collection of  J.Gilibert The collection of  J.Gilibert (1741-1814) contains 4 000 herbarium sheets. It consists of a systematic part (1539 herbarium sheets) and regional herbaria (2 400) collected in suburbs of Grodno. The herbarium is arranged according to C. Linnaeus system. Some authentic specimens described by J. Gilibert are preserved here. On the basis of the herbarium, a series of works has been written; among them the most well-known is "Flora Lithuanica inchoata..." (1781-1782).

The herbarium of  W.Besser The herbarium of  W.Besser (60 000 specimens) includes collections from territories of Right-bank Ukraine, the Black Sea region, the former Kyiv province, and also from West Europe, East Europe, the Caucasus, Siberia, India, Africa, Australia, America. On the herbarium basis the founder of the collection, W. Besser (1784-1842), wrote a well-known works "Primitiae florae Galiciae austriacae utrisque..." (1809), "Enumeratio plantarum hujusque in Volhynia, Podolia, gub. Kijoviensi, Bessarabia, Cis-Tyraica et circa Odessam collectarum, simul cum observationibus in Primitias Florae Galiciae austriacae" (1822), "Apercu de la geographie botanique de Volhynie et de Podolie" (1823). He studied taxonomy of genera Artemisia L., Rosa L., Veronica L. and others, published many taxonomic treatments, described about 100 new species. The authentic specimens of these taxa are preserved in the collection: Allium volhynicum Besser, Allium flavescens Besser, Carlina onopordifolia Besser, Euphorbia volhynica Besser, Genista tetragona Besser, Lotus ambiguus Besser, Myosotis nemorosa Besser, Polygala decipiens Besser, Salvia cremenecensis Besser, Seseli peucedanifolia Besser, S. campestre Besser, Viola alba Besser, V. uliginosa Besser, Rosa gorenkensis Besser, R. klukii Besser, and many others.

The materials of  A.Andrzejovsky (1785-1868), the author of "Ischislenije rastenij Podolskoj gubernii..." ["List of plants of the Podolian province..."] (1861-1862, in Russ.), are also represented in the collection. The authentic specimens are: Achillea mollis Andrz., Camelina microcarpa Andrz., Campanula farinosa Andrz., Cirsium fischerianum Andrz., Nepeta campestris Andrz., Polygonum paniculatum Andrz., P. daphnophyllum Andrz., Sedum collinum Andrz., Thesium diffusum Andrz., and many others.

The herbarium of  V.Chernjaev V.Chernjaev's (1793-1871) herbarium contains more than 37 000 specimens from Russia, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland. He was a well-known Ukrainian botanist, the autor of  "Conspectus plantarum circa Charcovian et in Ucrania sponte crescentium et vulgo cultarum" (1859). Type specimens of taxa described by V. Chernjaev from Ukraine are deposited at Herbarium KW: Myosotis ucrainica Czern., Linaria sabulosa Czern. ex Klokov, etc.

The herbarium of  P.Rogowich The collection of P.Rogowich (1812-1878), the autor of the work "Obozrenije semennykh i vysshykh sporovykh rastenij Kievskogo Uchebnogo Okruga..." ["Reviews of spermatophytes and higher cryptogamic plants of the Kiev Educational District..."] (1869, in Russ.) and other publications, covers 12 260 herbarium sheets from Volhyn, Podillya, Kyiv, Chernigiv and Poltava regions. The type specimens are preserved in the herbarium: Urtica kioviensis Rogow., Ulmus effusa Will. f. celtidea Rogow., Orobanche strumosa Rogow.

The herbarium of  I.Schmalhausen I.Schmalhausen's (1849-1894) collection entitled "The Herbarium of the European part of USSR flora" (21 827 herbarium sheets), 3 840 species, 397 families and 848 genera), was the basis for his famous works "Flora yugo-zapadnoj Rossii " ["Flora of Southwestern Russia"] (1886) and "Flora sredney i yuzhnoj Rossii, Kryma i Severnogo Kavkaza" ["Flora of Middle and Southern Russia, Crimea and the North Caucasus"] (1895-1897). Among these materials, there are authentic specimens described by I. Schmalhausen. The type specimens are preserved in the herbarium: Clematis pseudoflammula Schmalh., Erodium beketowii Schmalh., Erysimum cretaceum Schmalh., Jurinea stoechadifolia Schmalh.

The collection of  M.Turchaninow One of the best known worldwide is the personal collection of  M.Turchaninow (1796-1863). It consists of 150000 herbarium sheets (53 000 species), collected by the owner of the collection, and also resulting from his exchange with botanists, who worked in different countries of the world. Specimens of A.P. De Candolle, J.Hooker, E.Boissier, T.Thomson, N.Wallich, R.Brown, G.Bentham, J.Drummond, J.Linden, T.Kotschy, R.Hohenacker, etc. from Europe, Asia Minor, Central and South-West Asia, Oceania, Australia, Africa and America preserved in the collection. M.Turchaninow described 172 new genera and 1563 new species from different regions of the globe, and the type material of these taxa is deposites mainly in the KW Herbarium. The collection of nomenclatural types of taxa described by M. Turczninow (1 120 specimens) was separated from other specimens.

The herbarium of  M.Klokov Professor   M.Klokov (1896-1981) described more than 500 new species. His materials (20 000 specimens) is a collection of serial specimens from critical and taxonimically complicated groups of vascular plants: Stipa L., Bromus L. s.l. (Poaceae); Cerastium L., Minuartia L., Dianthus L., Otites Adans. (Caryophyllaceae); Thymus L., Phlomis L. (Lamiaceae); Tragopogon L., Centaurea L., Jurinea Cass. (Asteraceae); Rumex L., Polygonum L. (Polygonaceae), and others.

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