National Herbarium of Israel

National Herbarium of Israel
Name	National Herbarium of Israel
Native name	איגוד השדות הלאומי של ישראל
Established	1931
Location	Jerusalem, Israel
Type	Herbarium, Research Institute
Director	Michael Zohary (founder)

National Herbarium of Israel. The National Herbarium of Israel is a major botanical repository located in Jerusalem that documents the flora of the Levant, Mediterranean, and surrounding regions and supports taxonomic, ecological, and conservation research. It serves as a reference center for specimen-based studies linked to institutions such as the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Israel Museum, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and international herbaria including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, and the Smithsonian Institution. The herbarium's activities intersect with botanical figures and organizations like Michael Zohary, Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan, Otto Warburg, Georg Rosen, Arthur Hill, and institutions such as the Linnean Society of London, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy.

History

The herbarium traces roots to early 20th-century botanical exploration by collectors connected to the Palestine Botanical Association, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the British Mandate administration, and the Zionist agricultural movement represented by the Jewish National Fund and the Palestine Exploration Fund. Founding collectors and curators included Michael Zohary, Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan, Alexander Eig, and Otto Warburg who exchanged specimens with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, the Botanical Garden of Utrecht, and the Berlin-Dahlem collections. During World War II and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War links were maintained with institutions such as the Royal Society, the Linnean Society of London, the Carnegie Institution, and Oxford University Herbaria to safeguard type specimens and correspondence. Post-1948 expansion involved partnerships with the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority leading to major floristic projects and monographs.

Collections and Holdings

The holdings include extensive vascular plant collections, bryophytes, lichens, fungi, and seed collections with primary types, isotypes, syntypes, and paratypes from the Levant, Sinai, the Negev, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, and Egypt. Significant named collections derive from fieldworkers and botanists such as Zohary, Feinbrun-Dothan, Eig, Naomi Feinbrun, Avinoam Danin, and Ori Fragman-Sapir, alongside specimens exchanged with Kew, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, the New York Botanical Garden, Harvard University Herbaria, the Natural History Museum, London, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The herbarium houses historical correspondence, field notebooks, and type sheets related to floras and monographs produced for the Flora Palaestina project, the Flora of Israel and adjacent regions, and revisions published in journals like Taxon, Willdenowia, Israel Journal of Plant Sciences, and Phytotaxa. Collections emphasize endemic taxa, threatened species recorded by the IUCN, Red Data Books compiled with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and voucher specimens supporting ecological studies from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Yad Hanadiv Foundation.

Research and Scientific Activities

Research programs include taxonomic revision, phylogenetics, biogeography, conservation biology, and digitization supported by molecular laboratories at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, and Haifa University. Projects have produced systematic treatments and new species descriptions in collaboration with researchers at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Kew, the New York Botanical Garden, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, and the California Academy of Sciences. Digitization and databasing initiatives use standards from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library to mobilize specimen data for global platforms such as JSTOR Global Plants and GBIF, enhancing studies by conservationists at IUCN, BirdLife International, and UNEP. Molecular phylogenetics collaborations involve laboratories associated with the Max Planck Institute, CNRS, Smithsonian Institution, and the University of Oxford, informing regional conservation strategies promoted by the Mediterranean Plant Conservation Network and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Facilities and Herbarium Management

Facilities include climate-controlled storage rooms, mounting and conservation suites, a reference library linked to the National Library of Israel and the Israel Museum, and digitization stations equipped with high-resolution imaging systems used in partnerships with institutions such as the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and international imaging consortia. Management practices follow guidelines from the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, the International Organization for Standardization, and conservation protocols used by the Natural History Museum, London, and Kew, including type curation, loan policies, and data standards compatible with Darwin Core. The herbarium supports loans and exchanges with herbaria like K, BM, NY, P, E, W, and EBRG, and maintains accession and database systems interoperable with PLANTS database initiatives, facilitating specimen loans to universities, conservation NGOs, and botanical gardens such as the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens and Ben-Gurion University Botanical Garden.

Education, Outreach, and Publications

Educational programs engage students and volunteers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, and regional schools in fieldwork, curation, and citizen science projects run with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Israel Biodiversity Monitoring Program. Outreach includes exhibitions with the Israel Museum, lectures linked to the Linnean Society of London, workshops for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority rangers, and public guides produced in collaboration with the Jewish National Fund and local municipalities. Publications comprise floristic accounts, identification keys, monographs, checklists, and atlases published in cooperation with publishers and journals such as Brill, Springer, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Kew Bulletin, Israel Journal of Plant Sciences, Phytotaxa, and Willdenowia.

Collaborations and International Projects

International collaborations extend to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, the New York Botanical Garden, the Natural History Museum, London, and networks such as the Global Plants Initiative, GBIF, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and the Mediterranean Plant Conservation Network. Regional projects include floristic surveys with the University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, Jordan University of Science and Technology, the American University of Beirut, Birzeit University, and Egyptian botanical institutions, as well as conservation efforts coordinated with IUCN, BirdLife International, and UNESCO biosphere reserves. Capacity-building partnerships involve training with the Linnean Society of London, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the Smithsonian Institution, and EU-funded research consortia, supporting transnational initiatives that address climate change impacts, invasive species studies, and cross-border biodiversity monitoring.

Category:Herbaria Category:Botanical research institutes