[Taxacom] Asphodelaceae destroyed (Herbarium W, Vienna, Austria)

[Wallnöfer Bruno]

A warning to curators of Herbaria:

 

Recently, a loan shipment of herbarium specimens of Asphodelaceae, sent out in 2002 to the Herbarium of the University of Seville (SEV) in Spain, was returned to us (Herbarium W, Vienna, Austria) in an unacceptable state: most of the sheets are heavily and irreparably damaged by the action of larvae of herbarium beetles.

We invite herbarium curators abroad to view some of the photos (see the links below) and to consider measures appropriate for their own domain (e.g., ordering back their loans sent to SEV, etc.).

 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_a1.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_a1.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_a2.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_a2.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_c1.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_c1.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_c2.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_c2.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_d1.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_d1.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_d2.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_d2.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_e1.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_e1.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_e2.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_e2.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_f1.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_f1.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_f2.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_f2.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_g1.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_g1.jpg> 

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_g2.jpg <http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/pub/Asphodelaceae_g2.jpg> 

 

 

This almost complete loss is the more deplorable, as the original collection of Asphodelaceae at W [Herbarium W, Vienna, Austria] was destroyed by fire at the end of World War II. The list of families then lost can be seen at:

http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/nhm/Botanik/collections.htm#Families%20destroyed

 

We at W [Herbarium W, Vienna, Austria] must now struggle to again re-build an adequate collection of Asphodelaceae and would like to take this alert as an opportunity to solicit the (and to thank in advance for any) assistance of fellow curators who can send us any of their duplicates of that family, either as a donation or on exchange.

 

When similar incidents may occur in the future, the curators of herbaria are asked to alert also their colleagues through this forum. This would help to prevent the unnecessary destruction of any further herbarium specimens.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Dr. Bruno Wallnöfer

Curator of the Vascular Plant Collections

Naturhistorisches Museum

Botanische Abteilung

Burgring 7

A-1010 Wien

Austria

Tel.: +43-1-52177-556

Fax.: +43-1-52177-229

email: bruno.wallnoefer at nhm-wien.ac.at

homepage: http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/nhm/Botanik/wallnoefer.htm