Specimens
The collection number approximately 3000 specimens comprising:
- Arborescent flora of the Soutpansberg, sighted as vouchers in the
Tree List of the Soutpansberg (N. Hahn 1994).
- Voucher specimens for a thesis on the Endemic Flora of the Soutpansberg
(M.Sc. thesis in preparation, University of Na-tal, Pietermarizburg).
- Comparative study on the arborescent flora of Soutpansberg in relation
to: Maputaland, Mpumalanga Drakensberg, Waterberg, Eastern Highlands
of Zimbabwe and Matopos.
- Flora Zambesiaca Expedition, S. Venter, R. Archer & N. Hahn.
- The succulents of the Soutpansberg.
- Specimens of Ecological Surveys done by Pablo Weisser in Maputaland.
Other than the above, the herbarium also housed various type specimens
namely:
- Vangueria soutpansbergensis N. Hahn (1997)
- Combretum vendae subspecific classification in manuscript N.
Hahn & A. van Wyk.
- Khadia media P. Winter & N. Hahn (1999)
- Pavetta tshikondeni N. Hahn (1999)
- Aloe sp. under investigation N. Hahn
- Euphorbia sp. nov. under investigation N. Hahn & R. Archer
- Rhoicissus sp. under investigation N. Hahn & E. Retief.
Order
The herbarium is ordered according alphabetically.
Information retrieval
All collecting data is documented electronically. At present I use a
HP 690 Jarnado palm top computer to document specimen data in the field.
All locality data is recorded using a Garmin 2 plus GPS. With these facilities,
it is possible to totally eliminate any data back-log, which usually occurs
after a lengthy collecting trip. By these means I am able to give a full
report on plants collected within a day of returning home.
All relevant data concerning the herbarium are kept in relational database
based on Mi-crosoft Access 2000. This facility is regularly used to compile
taxon lists for various projects that I am involved with. The pleasure
of this system is that the information is not fixed.
Herbarium labels are compiled by exporting the relevant specimen data
into a MS Word 2000 mail merge document. The reason for this is multiple.
A database package does not support desktop publishing through its report
generator with the result that labels gener-ated via it look displeasing.
Secondly, where acronyms are used in the database, the words are written
out in full.
Slide collection
The herbarium also houses a collection of approximately 2000 photographic
slides taken mostly of:
1. Plants endemic to the Soutpansberg and there habitat
2. Succulents of the Soutpansberg
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