Institut de botanique
The herbarium at the botanical
institute (MPU), administered by the Université
Montpellier II, holds approximately 4 000 000 specimens
on 5554 metres of shelves in a 1600-square-metre
six-storey building.
The oldest
collections date from the Renaissance period: specimens
attributed to Richer de Belleval (who died in 1632),
herbarium of P. Chirac (who was a student of Magnol
1638–1715). The herbarium also contains plants collected
by Linnaeus’s Montpellier contemporaries and
correspondents, namely, Boissier de Sauvages, Cusson,
and Gouan. The university and its collections suffered
during the French Revolution, but at the beginning of
the 19th century, A. P. de Candolle, appointed as
Professor of Botany at the Faculty of Sciences of
Montpellier, started the new herbarium. De Candolle
cultivated many exotic species in the botanical garden
and the botanists who succeeded him throughout the 19th
century (Delile, Dunal, Planchon) gathered plants from
all parts of the world, further enriching the
collections. Around 1890, Ch. Flahault (1852–1935)
united the botanical collections of the three University
Faculties (medicine, pharmacology, and sciences) in one
place, the then new Institut de Botanique.
Today, the
specimens, including vascular and non-vascular plants
and fungi, are organised into one general herbarium and
about 200 separate collections. MPU is noteworthy for
having historical collections, dating from the 18th
century, from every continent of the earth, even
including Oceania, as well as collections from early
circumnavigation journeys.
During its long
history, the herbarium has been associated with
systematic and floristic research on temperate and
tropical vegetation. Although its numerous visitors
(researchers, students, and amateur botanists) still
include taxonomists, an increasing number of them are
those interested in biodiversity conservation issues.
Materials of
Special Interest
-
African
Collections: Including specimens from Ethiopia,
Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, southern Africa,
Sudan, and western Africa.
-
Asian
Collections: Including specimens from
Afghanistan, China, and India.
-
South
American Collections: Including specimens from
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay,
Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
-
Taxonomic
Revision Collections: Including Aristolochiaceae
by Duchartre, Solanaceae by Dunal in de Candolle’s
Prodromus, and Flahault’s collection of the
Nostocaceae heterocysteae. All these collections
contain uncounted type-specimens as most types on
our shelves are still not recognised as such.
-
Art and
Manuscripts: Including watercolour drawings of
Broussonet’s plants; Delile’s manuscripts;
unpublished drawings of Solanum made for Dunal’s
publications; manuscripts, drawings, and
watercolours by G. Malençon and R. Maire (North
African fungi); three collections of outstanding
illustrations of plants and fungi made by Node-Veran
(1773–1852), who was trained by de Candolle; and
scores of botanical sketches, notes, and
correspondences by different researchers.
Source: (http://www.aluka.org/page/about/partners/france_mpu.jsp)
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