6-697: The National Herbarium of Victoria ( Index Herbariorum code: MEL ) is one of Australia 's earliest herbaria and the oldest scientific institution in Victoria. Its 1.5 million specimens of preserved plants, fungi and algae—collectively known as the State Botanical Collection of Victoria —comprise the largest herbarium collection in Australia and Oceania . The collection includes scientifically and historically significant collections gathered by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander during
12-521: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne . The present building was constructed in 1934 through a donation from philanthropist Sir Macpherson Robertson . It, along with a 1989 extension, houses the entire collection of 1.5 million plant and fungal specimens. The Herbarium's botanic library is an important source for the history of Australian botany, and has contributed some 124 volumes (of the 1212 volumes contributed by Australia Institutions) to
18-791: The Index were published from 1952 to 1974. The Index became available on-line in 1997. The index was originally published by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy , which sponsored the first six editions (1952–1974); subsequently the New York Botanical Garden took over the responsibility for the index. The Index provides the supporting institution's name (often a university, botanical garden, or not-for-profit organization), its city and state, and each herbarium's acronym , along with contact information for staff members and their research specialties, and
24-450: The following collections: Index Herbariorum The Index Herbariorum provides a global directory of herbaria (singular, herbarium ; plural, herbaria) and their associated staff. This searchable online index allows scientists rapid access to data related to 3,400 locations where a total of 350 million botanical specimens are permanently housed. The Index Herbariorum has its own staff and website. Over time, six editions of
30-487: The online digital Biodiversity Heritage Library . The herbarium is also a partner in the Australasian Virtual Herbarium project, thereby making all of its collection data available to anyone to use. The herbarium also publishes an online key together with descriptions of plants found in Victoria via VicFlora. Over half of the existing collection was acquired by Mueller. The herbarium includes
36-639: The voyage of HMS Endeavour in 1770, as well as 2,000 specimens collected by Robert Brown during Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia (1801–1805), and three collections made by Darwin during the Voyage of the Beagle to South America, Australia, and the Pacific. The herbarium was established in 1853 by Ferdinand von Mueller , the Government Botanist for Victoria, and is situated within
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