Australia’s unique and invaluable botanical records will be preserved for the future in a world-first project to bring together and computerise Australia’s entire collection of scientific plant specimens.

The Royal Botanic Gardens is home to the National Herbarium of Victoria. The Herbarium is a major partner in Australia’s Virtual Herbarium, an ambitious project that will allow unprecedented global access to the enormous wealth of information contained in the major government funded herbaria collections through a central Internet site.

This five-year collaborative project has been made possible through Commonwealth, State and Territory government support, with further funds being sought from the private sector.

The National Herbarium of Victoria holds dried plant specimens that date from the earliest days of European exploration and are a primary source of information on the classification and distribution of plants, algae and fungi. These specimens are the working tools of scientists who contribute to our knowledge and understanding of biodiversity and conservation through the discovery, classification and description of new species.

Australia’s Virtual Herbarium will offer better and more cost-effective access to plant information for researchers, educators, students, government and private land managers and community groups. It will provide immediate access to the wealth of data associated with scientific plant specimens in each Australian herbarium. The project aims to make six million specimen records, of particular value in displaying geographic distribution, accessible via the Internet.

Plant specimen information from the National Herbarium of Victoria can already be accessed on-line. Visit http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/avh/ to see some of the wonderful information that is available to all. Explore Australia with our mapping tool and see where a species you know has been found.