The Mauritius Herbarium

The Mauritius Herbarium was created in 1960 but its roots dates from 1830. It is the world’s main repository of plant specimens of the Mascarenes (Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion), with its oldest collections dating from 1769. Its collections sum some 23,000 flowering plants and ferns, with other 3,000 specimens of bryophytes, lichens, algae and fungi. Most of its higher plants were partially databased using BRAHMS (Botanical Research And Herbarium Management Software), and specimens are now being barcoded. Part of these data is available through BOL (BRAHMS online). The Mauritius Herbarium has three permanent staff (lab assistant, technical staff and curator). The staff have over 15 years’ experience each. Research of The Mauritius Herbarium focus on taxonomy (e.g. description of new taxon, new records), ecology, biogeography and biological conservation related to the Mascarenes.