Bryophyte collections

The Museum's bryophyte herbarium is among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.

The collection provides a unique source of critical data for the international bryological community, supporting research on taxonomy, habitat conservation and environmental monitoring over historical periods of time.  

Geographical range. 

Global:  Arctic, boreal-temperate, tropical, austral-temperate, Antarctic

Temporal range.

Late 17th Century - 21st Century 

Strengths of the collection

Most of the collections were accumulated by notable bryologists in the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. These pioneers of bryophyte taxonomy described thousands of new taxa from every continent, and consequently, the herbarium is rich in original material.

The herbarium is also rich in the specimens of pioneering early plant collectors, such as H. von Handel-Mazzetti, who collected in China, Humboldt & Bonpland in South America, GHK Thwaites in Sri Lanka and JD Hooker in Antarctica, India, and New Zealand.

Extensive recent collections of tropical and subtropical bryophytes have been made over the last 60 years, many by museum bryologists. Most significantly, these include material from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Indian subcontinent, the Seychelles and Mascarenes, New Zealand, and Ascension Island.

At home, in the United Kingdom, the Museum holds a large and ever-growing representation of British and Irish bryophytes, with collections ranging from historical to the contemporary.