As is usual in many Botanic Gardens, our Friends Herbarium group collect, dry, mount and store illustrative samples of the plants in our Gardens.
The parts that can be mounted on a sheet, like the leaves, buds, and flowers are stored on what is called a voucher. The bulky parts such as fruit, seeds, nuts etc, are stored in boxes.
Each of these specimens, before being put away in storage containers are photographed. If reference to a specimen needs to be made later, it may be sufficient to look at the photograph rather than disturbing the fragile physical item.
Besides the pictorial representation, the Botanical world likes to have a written description of a plant. For this purpose, a Factsheet is produced to describe and illustrate the plant.
All this output of the Herbarium Group is now available on a website and is updated regularly. View website here.
Note: Folders containing species photos are stored In the Friends Centre for perusal and information. Take a look at the folders that are completed: Acacias, Banksias, Eucalypts, Grevilleas, Melaleucas and Pea Flowers.