Herbaria have traditionally been used in the study of plant systematics, that is, in identifying new species, updating plant classifications, and publishing flora, that is, guides to the plants of a particular area.
Pagoda Flower, Clerodendrum paniculatum, University of Florida Herbarium specimen
Recently, there has been a new appreciation for herbaria as they are pivotal in many present-day research areas. Specimens provide:
- Prospects for evolutionary analyses of DNA in historical herbarium collections
- Documentation of flowering and leaf-out times (phenology) in specimens useful for climate change research
- Identifying and tracking fungal plant diseases using specimens
- Uses of herbarium specimens in ethnobotany
- Tracing the medicinal uses of plants in a herbarium
- Investigating herbivory by measuring damage on plant specimens
- Using specimens to estimate species distributions
- Evidence for the spread of invasive species
- Aid in prospecting for diamonds
