What is a Herbarium specimen

A herbarium specimen consists either of a whole plant (in the case of herbs), or of plant parts (in the case of shrubs or trees). The specimen should include all the subterranean parts of the plant (shoots, leaves, flowers and fruits) and in some cases roots, bulbs or tubers. A plant specimen is associated with a label containing information about the collection locality, the biotope, the altitude wherefrom the plant has been collected, as well as the collection date, the collector’s name and the collection number. The last two elements ensure the uniqueness of the specimen. In the modern specimen labels the coordinates of the collection locality are also added. The samples are archived according to a certain system, usually by families, genera and species, and in alphabetical order, so that they can be easily searched out.