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INTRODUCTION

 A  herbarium  is a storehouse  of plants specimens  collected from various parts of the world  and mounted in appropriate sheet  and arranged according to some known   system of classification  and kept in pigeon –holes  of steel or wooden cupboards  specially  prepared for that  purpose .  Herbariums can also be defined as  a great filling systems  for information about  plants  both in their primary form i.e. inform of  actual specimens and in their secondary form i.e. inform  of published  information , pictures and  record notes. Herbariums are always generally associated with botanical gardens, educational and research institutions  where they serve  as a conservatory of materials  and data ,they also  plays a  major role in teaching and research

There are many types of herbariums and they vary according to the interest  of the organization  or institutions   e.g. those institutions that only specialize in teaching will only those herbariums specimens  only of interest  for teaching and research while  medical  and drug industries will keep herbarium  consisting of plants of medicinal value , similarly agricultural organizations will maintain herbarium of plants such as weed and field crops. The first herbarium of the world was established in  the university of Padua in Italy  in 1545  and until currently , several thousands of herbariums have been established . among the many  important world herbarium  include , Royal  botanical garden  , Kew in London , V.L Komarov  in Russia , New York  botanic garden etc.

 Botanical gardens are  scientifically planed collection   of shrubs , herbs  and climbers  and other living plants  from different parts of the world botanical gardens are different from  public parks and gardens  in the sense that   public parks and gardens are   only meant to provide for aesthetic  beauty  and recreation  whereas botanical gardens are  primarily centered  on scientific  purpose i.e. for education and research  e.g. to study taxonomy , morphology,   breeding  and  provision of shelter to most endangered  plant species  of the world  .they also help in simplifying  the task of acquisition  of plant materials that may not be available in  those parts of the world .

Functions of herbariums

(a) Herbarium is a store of reference materials hence adequate arrangement  for preservation of specimens  and simple form of indexing  should be put in place  so as to enable them to be retrieved easily

(b) Herbarium serves as a means of identification , these is done by matching unnamed plant with the named  specimen  in the collection  or by conforming to identification  arrived at by using  botanical keys . for these exercise  to be more effective , alphabetical arrangements of species should be followed .

(c)  Identification of the plant may be needed  because of;

• curiosity
• in order to write about the plant
• for  researching more about the plant

(d) It  is a collection  in a herbarium which fully represents  the diversity  and distribution of various regions  of a country `s vegetation . these calls for a geographical  arrangement

(e) It is a laboratory for plants  taxonomy and sometimes other botanical  fields like ecology  of  biogeography

(f) It gives the scientist an opportunity to study about plants

(g) it makes comparative studies convenient and economical

Types of herbariums

1. International herbarium – they are large herbariums with a million or more specimens and global representative  of comprehensive  range of taxonomy  e.g.  Kew  in England
2. National  /regional herbarium – specimen here are  from phylogeographicaly similar  e.g.East Africa herbarium . it covers the areas in details . and some neighboring countries  and some  neighboring countries with  representative collections
3. Local herbariums – these deals with a region , a country , province , district , forest  and these includes  different national parks e.g. herbarium covering Marsabit district
4. Special herbariums – these contain a collection of specific plants for special purposes e.g. research (medicinal plants)
5. Historical herbariums – the contain / caters for historical plant specimen
6. Teaching herbariums – these are mostly found in the  institution of learning e.g. in colleges and universities for teaching purposes .