Our specimen collection
Specimen collected by Banks and Solander from the Endeavour River, Cook's voyage 1770
Botanists and members of the public contribute thousands of specimens to the herbarium collection each year, representing new species and new distribution records of both native or naturalised plant species.
The methods of preserving plant specimens include:
- Most plant specimens are pressed, dried and mounted on cardboard.
- Delicate or small specimens are stored in jars of liquid preservative.
- Fungi and large woody specimens are stored in boxes or bags.
Each specimen is labelled with the collector, date of collection, location and habitat it was found in and the plant’s features, such as bark and flower colour. This information is recorded in a database and is available through Australia’s Virtual Herbarium.
Find out how to collect specimens to make sure the specimens are collected, preserved and submitted in line with our requirements.
What is a voucher specimen?
Voucher specimens represent new weed incursions, poisonings, seed collections, ecological research, DNA sequences or biochemical analyses.
Contact us before you attempt to collect or submit a voucher to find out what is required.
What is a type specimen?
A type specimen is assigned to each new botanical name. These are published under international rules and help standardise botanical name use across the world.
We have more than 9000 type specimens that are currently being photographed as part of the Global Plants Initiative.
Find out how new species are described.
Significance of the collections
Collections are the fundamental materials used to document and research species and plant communities.
The Queensland Herbarium collections form a unique record of Queensland flora over time.
They can be used to track species’ changing distributions and predict where new populations may yet be found.
Our collections include many historically important specimens, including those assembled by:
- Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander during Cook’s voyage along eastern Australia in 1770
- explorers Robert Brown, Ludwig Leichhardt and Amalie Dietrich
- early Queensland botanists Frederick Manson Bailey, Cyril Tenison White and Leonard Brass.
Contact us for information about the history of the Queensland Herbarium.
