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| Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, Paris | |
|---|---|
| Name | Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, Paris |
| Established | 17th–19th centuries (collections consolidated) |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Type | Herbarium, scientific collection |
Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, Paris is the principal botanical collection housed within the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris. It is a central repository for plant specimens assembled through expeditions, colonial networks, and academic exchanges involving institutions such as the Royal Society, the Société botanique de France, and the Jardin des Plantes. The herbarium supports taxonomic research linked to major figures and institutions including Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, Aimé Bonpland, Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, and the École normale supérieure.
The herbarium's origins trace to early cabinets of curiosities associated with the Jardin du Roi and key actors like Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Georges Cuvier, and Michel Adanson, later formalized under the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle after the French Revolution. Collections expanded through voyages of exploration including expeditions by Nicolas Baudin, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, and the circumnavigation voyages connected to James Cook and Alexander von Humboldt, and through colonial era transfers involving the Compagnie des Indes and the French Navy. Acquisition networks linked the herbarium to collectors such as Félix Delahaye, Aimé Bonpland, and Joseph Banks, and to institutions like the British Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Berlin Botanical Garden, and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Nineteenth-century taxonomy shaped holdings via exchanges with Kew, the Muséum of Geneva, the Natural History Museum, London, the Smithsonian Institution, and the New York Botanical Garden, while twentieth-century efforts involved collaboration with the Institut de France, CNRS, the École pratique des hautes études, and UNESCO programs.
The herbarium comprises millions of specimens including type specimens attributed to taxonomists such as Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, and Henri Baillon. Holdings encompass vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, fungi, and historical botanical manuscripts connected to Pierre Magnol, Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, and René Louiche Desfontaines. Major collections derive from global regions collected by explorers like Josephine de Beauharnais-era gardeners, Christopher Columbus-era transatlantic transfers, and nineteenth-century collectors such as Ernest Cosson, Adrien René Franchet, and Jean-François Séguier. The herbarium preserves specimen packets, type sheets, expedition floras, and iconography by illustrators aligned with Alexandre de Humboldt, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and Pierre-Joseph Redouté; exchanges with the Muséum d'histoire naturelle de La Rochelle, the Musée colonial, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and the Field Museum augmented diversity.
Curatorial oversight involves departments connected to the Jardin des Plantes, the Institut de systématique, and laboratories linked to the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie. Storage infrastructure includes climate-controlled cabinets, veterinary-grade fumigation chambers, and barcoded shelving developed in partnership with the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Institut Pasteur for specimen hygiene and data management. Administrative coordination interacts with the Musée du quai Branly, the Institut de recherche pour le développement, and the Office national des forêts for material transfers and permits; legal compliance references dialogues with CITES signatories, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Nagoya Protocol through ministries such as the Ministère de la Culture and the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur.
Research at the herbarium has underpinned taxonomic revisions by figures like Adrien de Jussieu and Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent, phytogeographic syntheses influenced by Humboldtian science, and floristic monographs published with partners such as the Royal Society, the Linnean Society of London, and the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. Studies using specimens have contributed to molecular systematics with collaborations involving the Max Planck Society, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and to conservation prioritization with IUCN, WWF, BirdLife International, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Historic specimen data informed climate change research referenced in IPCC assessments and paleoecological reconstructions connected to the Natural Environment Research Council and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory.
Digitization programs partnered with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, JSTOR Global Plants, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library have digitized herbarium sheets, field notebooks, and type photographs. Collaborative projects with Google Arts & Culture, Gallica, and the European Research Council-funded networks enable online access via portals used by researchers at Harvard University Herbaria, the New York Botanical Garden, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Data standards align with Darwin Core and ABCD schemas promoted by GBIF, while specimen imaging workflows integrate platforms developed at the Smithsonian Institution, the Natural History Museum, London, and the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem.
Conservation protocols combine pest management techniques from the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas and fumigation methods informed by FAO guidelines, alongside preventive conservation strategies used by the Musée du Louvre and the British Library. Curation includes accessioning, databasing, and specimen mounting practices reflecting standards of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy and training exchanges with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Arnold Arboretum, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Long-term preservation engages conservation scientists at CNRS laboratories, collaboration with the Institut national du patrimoine, and material science input from École polytechnique and Collège de France researchers.
Public programs leverage exhibitions at the Jardin des Plantes and thematic displays coordinated with the Musée de l'Homme, the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, and the Bibliothèque centrale du Muséum. Educational initiatives partner with Musée du quai Branly, the Institut national de la recherche agronomique, the Conservatoire botanique national, and local universities such as Sorbonne University, École normale supérieure, and Université Paris-Saclay to host workshops, citizen science projects, and lectures. Outreach involves collaborations with media organizations like France Culture, Le Monde, and National Geographic, and with international networks such as the European Cultural Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Service.
Category:Herbaria Category:Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle