Botanical and mycological collections
Herbarium BG at the University Museum of Bergen holds collections of vascular plants, bryophytes, algae, lichens and fungi, in total around 750,000 specimens. The collections are the result of 200 years of botanical collecting at the University Museum of Bergen. The material documents the flora over time and is an important research infrastructure for biodiversity.
About
The material in Herbarium BG comes from across the globe, but primarily from Norway, and particularly from Western Norway. The collections form a geographical record of the flora over time and constitute an important biodiversity databank. The material is available for study to researchers worldwide, and an extensive loan service for taxonomic, evolutionary and floristic research is ongoing continuously. The herbarium is divided into six sub-collections.
What do the collections comprise?
The Nordic vascular plant herbarium
The Nordic herbarium contains around 215 000 specimens from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Svalbard, Jan Mayen og Bjørnøya. Important collectors are T. Lillefosse and J. Naustdal, and a larger collection from the mountain areas in Southern Norway is collected by R. Nordhagen and others. The Nordic herbarium has been nearly completely databased. Images are available for a large part of the material, but these are generally of medium quality.
The international vascular plant herbarium
The international vascular plant herbarium covers the entide world, except the Nordic countries, and contains around 100 000 specimens.
The algae herbarium
The algae herbarium contains between 10 000 and 15 000 specimens of many algal groups, for example green, brown, red and golden algae, as well as slides of microalgae. Geographically, the collection is focused on Norway. Important collectors are P. Boye (macroalgae), E. Jørgensen (plankton) and P. Svendsen.
The bryophyte herbarium
The bryophyte herbarium comprises around 80 000 specimens from all over the world. The largest part comes from Norway, but the collection also contains important material from Bouvetøya and the Antarctic, collected by T. Engelskjøn. Other important collectors are E. Jørgensen, B.B.L. Kaalaas, J.J. Havås and T. Lillefosse. So far, around 42 500 specimens have been databased. Among these are the bryophyte species that are red listed in Norway.
The lichen herbarium
The lichen herbarium contains around 100 000 specimens from all over the world, especially Norwegian and Nordic localities but it also contains a lot of important material from North America (T. Tønsberg), Bouvetøya and Antarctica (T. Engelskjøn). Other important collectors are J.J. Havaas, J.M. Norman og T. Tønsberg. The entire collection has been databased, but without images.
The fungal collection
The fungal collection contains around 16 000 specimens from all over the world, especially Europe and Norway. Jens Stordal's collections of basidiomycetes are an important part of the material. A large part of the collection has been databased (except Myxomycetes, rusts and smuts), but lacks images.
Tilgang og bruk
Loans and visits to the herbarium
Material can be sent on loan to other museums for taxonomic, systematic and floristic research, and guest researchers can visit the herbarium by appointment.
For inquiries, contact Jenny Smedmark: jenny.smedmark@uib.no
People
Contact us
Jenny Smedmark Curator of the herbarium
Solfrid Hjelmtveit Herbarium technician for vascular plants
Sophie Steinhagen Curator of algae, bryophytes, lichens and fungi
Cessa Rauch Herbarium technician for algae, bryophytes, lichens and fungi
Contact
Visiting address: Allégaten 41, Realfagbygget, 1st floor, Department of Natural History
Post and parcels: Herbarium BG, Department of Natural History, University Museum of Bergen, Postboks 7800, 5020 Bergen
- Emails
- jenny.smedmark@uib.no