About the herbarium GZU
The herbarium of the University of Graz (official abbreviation: GZU) is one of the world's most important botanical collections with more than 1,200,000 herbarium specimens, including approx. 10,000 type specimens:
- vascular plants (approx. 850.000 specimens)
- Fungi and myxomycetes (approx. 110,000 specimens)
- Lichens and lichenicolous fungi (approx. 190,000 specimens)
- Bryophytes (approx. 17,000 specimens)
- Algae and cyanobacteria (approx. 3,800 specimens)
- Carpological collection (approx. 500 objects/specimens)
- Wood collection (approx. 200 objects)
- Ethnobotanical collection (approx. 100 objects)
- Palaeobotanical collection (approx. 12,000 samples), on permanent loan to the Department of Geology and Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum Vienna)
No founding date can be given for the university herbarium; it was established at the Institute of Phytopalaeontology after the death of Constantin von Ettingshausen in 1897, based on his purchased private collection and the demonstration herbarium of Hubert Leitgeb. Around 1900, Karl Fritsch began to build up a university herbarium for research and teaching through targeted acquisitions. Some of the historical holdings go back much further into the past and contain collections from the Habsburg Monarchy as well as valuable additions from other parts of the world, e.g. the extensive Acanthaceae collection of Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck.
Between 1904 and 1912, the Flora stiriaca exsiccata by August Hayek was issued by the institute.
The lichen herbarium founded by Josef Poelt and the collection of lichenicolous fungi built up by Josef Hafellner are of worldwide importance. In addition, the Graz University Herbarium houses one of the most valuable recent collections of fungal plant parasites in Europe, in particular rusts, smuts and mildews, as well as important historical exsiccates.
The GZU continues to issue exsiccate works, and since 1994 the Scheden have been published in the series Fritschiana series since 1994.
A steady influx of new material enables scientists to draw on a wealth of information that has grown over 200 years.
The herbarium as a research infrastructure
Biodiversity research and documentation obligations: Like every natural science, botany is subject to the strict criteria of repeatability and reproducibility of knowledge processes. Just as every physiological or biochemical experiment must be so well documented that it can be repeated at any time, every systematic botanical or geobotanical study must also be reproducible at any time by means of appropriately preserved documents. Even for the simple identification of a single plant find using standard literature, documentation in the form of a herbarium voucher can be useful.
Type specimens: The international regulations governing the valid description and naming of newly discovered species are particularly strict. The author of a new species is obliged, without exception, to name type specimens of the new species and the place where these type specimens were deposited when publishing. The first description is based on these herbarium specimens, and the name of the new species therefore remains forever linked to the type specimens deposited. Violations of this documentation obligation according to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICN, formerly ICBN) render the published names and descriptions invalid.
Biodiversity research and molecular biology methodology: Even a dried plant on a herbarium sheet still has its genetic code stored. Recent findings using molecular biology methods in particular have shown that biodiversity research is not meaningful without current and historical herbarium material from different parts of the distribution area (range) of a species.
Herbaria as cultural assets: In view of the long tradition of biodiversity research in Europe, it is almost self-evident that the significance of herbaria has taken on an ever deeper historical dimension in the course of their development. Just like libraries, herbaria are irreplaceable cultural assets. Herbarium specimens of plants from very specific habitats from historical times bear witness not so much to changes in the general climate, but much more to the countless interventions of man in his environment. Herbarium specimens from older collections can even be important as purely historical source documents, e.g. for research into the life and work of important botanists and/or their patrons.
Digitisation
Since 2003, work has been underway to digitise the entire collection. Currently, approx. 10 - 12 % of the collection is recorded in the JACQ database system. Data from collections that have already been digitised are mainly available via the JACQ database management system, as well as via GBIF.org, GBIF-Austria and the OSCA portal.
High-resolution digital images are available of the type specimens. In addition, photos for scientific purposes are only produced on request and within the limits of available time resources.
Terms of use
The collections are accessible to scientists by prior appointment.
The data on herbarium specimens from the GZU collection are available in the Virtual Herbarium JACQ (https://www.jacq.org), the images of the herbarium specimens can be used under the licence CC-BY-SA 4.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Interesting links
Contact us
Herbarium Institute of Biology Karl-Franzens-University of Graz
FAX: +433163809883
Holteigasse 6
A-8010 Graz
Locations
The collections are housed at two different locations:
- Department of Plant Sciences
Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz/Austria
Bryophytes, lichens and lichenicolous fungi, Carpological Collection, Wood Collection, Ethnobotanical Collection
- Andritz branch
Weinzöttlstraße 16, 8045 Graz/Austria
Vascular plants, fungi, algae
Please only send postal items to Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz!
- Palaeobotanical collection
on permanent loan to the Natural History Museum Vienna/Department of Geology and Palaeontology/PalaeobotanicalCollection
Loans
Mag. Dr Peter BILOVITZ
Curator; contact person for lichens, non-lichenized fungi and bryophytes
Mag. Dr Peter Bilovitz
Institute of Biology, Department of Plant Sciences
+43 (0)316 380 - 8835
pe.bilovitz(at)uni-graz.at
Mag. Astrid SCHARFETTER
Herbarium manager; contact person for vascular plants, algae, carpological collection, wood collection, ethnobotanical collection
Mag. Astrid Scharfetter
Institute of Biology, Department of Plant Sciences
+43 (0)316 380 - 8841
as.scharfetter(at)uni-graz.at
Loan requests by e-mail to the responsible curators or by letter to the following address:
To the curator of the herbarium GZU, Department of Plant Sciences, Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz/Austria
In principle, loans are only sent to public institutions with natural science collections and appropriately trained, responsible staff. The borrowing institution must have suitable facilities for the adequate storage of herbarium material, which also prevent pest infestation and other damage.
A loan request must contain all desired taxa in alphabetical order (by genus, within the genus by species) as well as all synonyms of the desired name.
In addition to the desired taxa, the loan request should also contain the name of the researcher, the supervisor (if applicable) and a working title.
As a matter of principle, type and historical specimens will not be loaned. The GZU Herbarium reserves the right to refuse loan requests due to excessive costs or high risk (e.g. extinct species)
The maximum loan period is 12 months. If the material is required for longer, a written request for an extension must be submitted before the loan period expires. Proper receipt of the consignment must be confirmed on the enclosed duplicate of the loan documents. The material must be returned in the original envelopes and accompanied by the required documents (CITES documentation, parcel label, if applicable).
The material may not be passed on to or taken to another institution without the prior contact and written consent of the respective curator.
Any changes to the voucher material or labels as well as repair work are prohibited. Damage must be reported immediately to the GZU herbarium in writing.
Please enclose a revision slip with each revised herbarium sheet, but do not stick it on.
Borrowed material may only be used for scientific purposes.
The material used must be cited in publications (>>> How_to_cite_GZU_specimens.pdf).
A special print or pdf-file of publications containing analysed material from the GZU herbarium must be sent to the herbarium.
Photographing the material is permitted. In the case of publication of the photograph(s), the GZU herbarium of the University of Graz must be explicitly cited as the source. A copy or a pdf-file of the publication and the photos must be sent to the Herbarium GZU.
Destructive sampling
Destructive examination methods are generally prohibited.
Exceptions require the written consent of the curator or his authorised representative.
Unused fragments are the property of the GZU herbarium and must be returned encapsulated and labelled.
If preparations (e.g., pollen preparations, anatomical sections, collodion sheets, TLC samples, etc.) are made in the course of processing specimens, the original or a sufficiently labeled duplicate/photo with sufficient resolution must be returned together with the voucher.
In the case of multiple requests concerning individual specimens, usually only one request is approved and all other applicants are informed in order to allow for possible collaboration. A special print or pdf file of publications containing analysed GZU material must be sent to the herbarium.
Under no circumstances may parts of type material or historical collection material be removed.