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Description: | Content of collection: Angiospermae, Gymnospermae, Pinophyta, Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta.
The British Collection of Higher Plants consists of approximately 48,000 flowering plant specimens and around 2,000 examples of other higher plants (Pinophyta, Gymnospermae and Pteridophyta). Specimens were collected by several past Professors of the University, such as James William Helenus Trail, William Grant Craib and William MacGillivray, but also amateur collectors such as McMurtrie, Lewis Gavin, and Stables. A collection of British flowering plants bequeathed to Professor Trail by George Nicholson, Curator at Kew from 1886-1901, form a large part of the overall collection. The British collection makes up the largest group within the Herbarium, covering the whole of the UK; but in particular Scotland.
There are many Rosaceae specimens in the British Collection of Higher Plants, including 13 boxes containing the Set of British Rubi issued by Rev. E.F. Linton, W.R. Linton, R.P. Murray and W. Moyle Rogers, covering the years 1892-1895. The collection also includes around 500 specimens from the Isle of Arran, predominantly obtained by Alice Sommerville during the 1960s and 70s. There are many Carex and Circaea specimens amongst these Arran plants.
Along with the numerous individual herbarium sheets in the collection, there are several significant bound volumes of herbaria including one compiled by Alexander Croall, commissioned by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Another volume was collected by George Hamilton-Gordon while Earl of Aberdeen, who later became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1852-1855). A volume compiled by William Knight (1786-1844) includes the oldest specimen in the Herbarium: a Gentiana campestris specimen dated 1772. | Source: | University of Aberdeen | Address: | King's College,
AB24 3FX | Contributor: | Acquisition details: Bulk of acquisitions entered collection before 1960. Specimens continue to be acquired from vice-county recorders for Scotland. | Identifier: | ABDUH:CLD13 | Relation: | ABDUA:CLD00 | Go to resource |
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