Description
Malesian herbarium by Odoardo Beccari (1865-1878). One of the best-known historical collections, the so-called Malesian herbarium was compiled by Odoardo Beccari in the second half of the 19th century, the result of his extensive explorations in the area of historical Malesia (Indo-Malay archipelago), as well as the more or less contiguous countries he visited on the same trips (from India to New Zealand). Beccari brought back plants, animals, ethnographic and anthropological findings from his three famous explorations. The herbarium contains more than 14,000 specimens, mostly prepared by Beccari himself (with a more modest contingent of specimens obtained by exchange from other collectors and colleagues), to which hundreds of specimens in alcohol are linked (interspersed in the carpological general collection) and 200 plates of wood from Borneo (xylological collection). The scientific importance of the collection stems from the large number of type specimens (those surveyed to date are more than 2,400), which are crucial for research on Malesian flora. Starting in 2018, in view of the centenary celebrations of Beccari's death, a systematic study has been launched that aims to digitise and publish its contents in full. Contents: 14,162, including 100 fungi (sensu lato), 195 lichens, 181 algae, 878 bryophytes, 658 pteridophytes, 57 gymnosperms, and 12,093 angiosperms.
Purposes
This is a sub-collection of https://registry.gbif.org/collection/19961847-31f6-4abb-9b92-18a391ba9b0d. Information originally retrieved from internal University of Florence Museal System (UNIFI-SMA) digitization dashboard, compiled in October 2021.
