Т. N. Smekalova, I. G. Chukhina & G. V. Talovina
All-Russian Institute of Plant Industry, St-Petersburg, Russia, t.smekalova@vir.nw.ru; i.chukhina@vir.nw.ru
The collection of nomenclature types is kept as a special section in the VIR herbarium (WIR). In 2002, an electronic catalogue “Nomenclature types in the N. I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry herbarium collection (WIR)” was created both in Russian and English versions. The catalogue contains digital images and the text information about 453 type herbarium samples of different taxonomic ranks (from species down to forma), concerning 19 families and 44 species. It is accessible to users directly on a local computer in the VIR Herbarium, and on CD (the full version occupies 3 CDs). The greatest quantity of herbarium samples corresponds to types of varieties (249). Full information from herbarium labels of each sample is available: place and date of collecting, place of reproduction, the name of collector, number of the sample, a category of type; and also the first taxonomic description are accessible. Images consist of a general view photo of the herbarium sheet and partial photos of plant parts with taxonomically significant morphological characters (made in macro-mode). The program was developed using the Delphi 6 development platform using BDE.
The created catalogue is important for checking for correctness of botanical names use. Images of herbarium sheets can be used for identification of taxa. The information submitted in the catalogue can be used in international research also in student courses.