Our Herbarium

The Herbarium of the Jardín Botánico “Guillermo Piñeres” (JBGP) was founded in 1978 by Hermes Cuadros who directed it until the year 2000. Material was collected from several historical expeditions during the 1980s. Since 2016 collecting activities have increased and all seed collections are now associated with herbarium vouchers. Currently the collections are curated by Maria Paula Contreras and Santiago Madriñán.

History

With ca 15.000 specimens, the JBGP Herbarium is the most important plant collection of the Colombian Caribbean. It includes two type specimens. In addition, it houses specimens from other tropical American countries for comparison purposes, donated by the many visiting botanists over the years, or obtained through exchange programs. We house important collection from eminent botanists like Hermes Cuadros, Enrique Forero-Gonzalez and Alwin H. Gentry. Many of the localities of our historical collections are either nowadays inaccessible, or the ecosystems have been dramatically transformed by human impact. This historical record of what was where is invaluable for future studies on biogeography, climate change, human impact on the landscape and nature development. Many of these collections have no duplicates in other national or international herbaria. Our team of volunteers mounts newly collected specimens on their final sheets. Approximately 400 newly collected specimens are added annually.