Herbarium
Background information
Herbarium TUR was founded in 1919 when the internationally important lichen collections of Edward August Vainio were purchased and brought to Turku. Actual curatorial work started 1922 when the collections were moved and Vainio was offered a curatorial post in Turku. The collection embraces over 35000 lichen specimens, including thousands of type specimens.
Duties and tasks
Our main task, by maintaining and expanding the collections, is to make sure that present day and future research may find answers in the material preserved. Furthermore, we need to make sure that taxonomic know how is passed on to future generations. We curate a multidisciplinary herbarium including the following number of specimens: 581600 vascular plants, 175000 fungi, 105000 mosses, 109000 lichens, 5900 algae, giving a total of 977000 specimens. The yearly growth rate of the collections is ca. 2 %. Material is very actively loaned worldwide to and from our herbarium, especially due to the large number of important type specimens.
The staff takes part actively in teaching in the fields of their expertise. We also manage large research projects and supervise MSc and PhD projects. Our main task is to maintain expertise that is not found elsewhere in the Department of Biology.
A recent challenge has been that of conventing the specimen data into formats that are electronically available. Databasing began in 1995 and to date ca. 70000 vascular plant specimens have been databased. Digitizing type specimens will be the next major task, soon to be commenced.
General research topics, excluding individual projects
Palaeoethnobotanical investigations. Macrofossil plant remains are used to study pre-historical and historical natural vegetation and the history of cereal cultivation, useful plants and their distributions. In the Herbarium, 2-3 students work annually in different interdisciplinary projects related to these topics. Limited service for the identification of plant macrofossils/seeds/fruits for archaeologists and for the general public is possible. The collection of plant macrofossils in TUR is one of the largest in the Nordic Countries.
The vascular flora of Inari in Lapland. This project began in 1954 and has since been carried out by means of yearly excursions to the area. Volume 7 of the flora was published in 2005. From the total area of 23152 square kilometres, 22.8 percent has so far been floristically mapped.
Fungal systematics. The non-lichenized, ascomycetous flora of Finland is not well known. Two thirds of the estimated 3000 species are insufficiently known, including hundreds of species still unknown to science. Agarics are also under active study with the main emphasis begin on the genera Russula and Inocybe.
Societal services
Fungal deterioration. Fungi in houses are a common problem in Finland. An identification service, house calls, as well as consultation in legally or constructionally complex cases are a part of the services offered by the Herbarium.
Identifications. To some extent, vascular plants, mosses, fungi and lichens can be identified for the public/researchers free of charge. Identifying larger quantities of research materials is fee-based.