Introducing (finally) Algarve University’s Herbarium

It was also the date chosen to reveal something particularly interesting that again most people probably missed – the “opening” of the herbarium at the University of the Algarve, based at Faro’s “Centro de Ciência Viva do Algarve” .

Lecturers Maria Manuela David and José Rosa Pinto opened a small exhibition to introduce this scientific facility to the public (schools and people in general).

The herbarium brings together 22.750 species (11.560 plants, principally from Portugal but also from other countries, and 11.100 species of seaweed and algae from the Portuguese coast).

But it also has a story of its own. In 1984, the first rector of the university raised the money to buy a private collection of plants from naturalist Antunes Guerra. From then on, and despite efforts from various members of staff, the herbarium remained in boxes - until 2006, when after more than 20 years, the university finally managed to find a location worthy of such a collection.

Even so, the facility owes its existence to the meticulous voluntary work by teacher Rosa Pinto (a former army officer with a passion for botany) who spent hours mounting around 9.000 specimens that were still stored in newspaper for drying.

A herbarium is a “semi-public” space, open to society in general, “where people can go”, explains Maria Manuela David, currently in charge. Beyond giving a certain kudos to the university, it is useful in various areas – from teaching to research and the regeneration of the environment.

The idea of preserving plant material in a simple, long-lasting form but removed from its natural environment, dates back to the 18th century.

Traditionally, a herbarium is made up of a biological collection of dried plants accompanied by technical explanations with various important details: the plant’s scientific name, the place and date of its picking, and other information. Modern herbariums use techniques like cryogenics and online databases. These will have to wait for the next ambitious step at the Algarve facility.

In this first exhibition we can see the oldest plant specimen, collected in 1883 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It’s not simply geography that has changed. As a result of all the human activity and climate change, we learn of plants that have disappeared these days and which only remain in the herbarium’s archives.

The facility is also useful to identify invasive species that pose a serious problem to the future of biodiversity throughout the world. Only in Portugal, for example, there are 525 known invasive species that have overtaken indigenous species.

Then, there are the carnivorous plants to discover, along with the Jurassic plants and other curiosities…

The exhibition runs until 17th June.