The Herbarium at Creswick
Herbaria are potentially useful sources of scientific and historic information. The Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science (DFES) Herbarium is no exception and is currently being documented to determine the extent and significance of the collection. Using the card catalogue system, we estimate that there are about 10 000 specimens in the DFES Herbarium representing from 2500 to 3000 species. As an indication of the thoroughness of some parts of the collection, approximately 70 of these species are in the genus Acacia and 260 in the genus Eucalyptus. Plant specimens have been collected from all states and territories in Australia and include a range of native plants, weeds and cultivated plants. Of course the best representation of specimens is from Victoria.
A project currently underway aims to document the extent of the plant specimens in the Herbarium and to try to learn something of the history of the various collections. This information will help inform the future preservation of the Herbarium and aid in its development as an important attribute of DFES. The study is being funded by the History of the University Unit and the Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science.
The DFES Herbarium contains an ‘exsiccatae’ or set of specimens collected by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, the first Government Botanist of Victoria. Von Mueller distributed up to 50 copies of each of three volumes of native plant specimens throughout rural Victoria to educate ‘common people’ about Australian vegetation. It is thought that at least one volume was sent to the Creswick Mechanics Institute and subsequently donated to the DFES Herbarium. About 20 specimens that belong to this collection have already been found, most of which are in good condition and retain their original information despite having been remounted from their original herbarium sheets.
The history of other collections in the Herbarium is largely unknown. The earliest recorded specimen that we have found in the DFES Herbarium was made by JH Maiden in 1887. Specimens have also been collected by botanical identities including James H Willis, Herbert B Williamson, Edward J Semmens and Winifred B Wright (Calder).
James Herbert Willis (1910-1995) was a student at the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF which became DFES) from 1927 to 1930 and went on to become a Forest Officer in central Victoria and the Dandenong Ranges after he graduated. He later became Assistant Government Botanist and served as the Acting Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Herbarium from 1970-1972. His collection in the DFES Herbarium dates from early 1930s to late 1940s.
Herbert B Williamson (1860-1931) was a school teacher and head master in a number of Victorian State schools throughout a career covering 49 years. There is no record of how part of his collection (annotated as “ex herb HB Williamson”) came to be in the DFES Herbarium, however it may have been donated via Williamson’s connection with the Botany Department of the University of Melbourne as Honorary Keeper of the Herbarium. His extensive collection in the DFES Herbarium dates from 1893 to the early 1920s and includes an early collection of specimens from the Hawkesdale region during 1895-1899, many of which are still on their original herbarium sheets annotated with Williamson’s handwritten notes.
Edwin (Ted) James Semmens (1886-1980) began his career as a State primary school teacher but later became the Principal of the VSF from 1927-1951. Semmens was a keen field botanist and many of the plant specimens he collected between the 1920s and 1940s can be found in the DFES Herbarium. Semmens was elected to the Linnaean Society of London in 1935 and was awarded a Doctorate of Forest Science honoris causa by the University of Melbourne in 1977.
We know little about the Winifred B Wright collection apart from it being made during the 1940s and 1950s by FS and WB Wright and WD Chapman and that it specialises in eucalypts from across Australia. Winifred Wright married and become known as Winty Calder and wrote several books including “Vegetation of the Mornington Peninsular” in 1975.
A number of international collections are also represented in the DFES Herbarium. The largest collection comes from California and was collected by Lewis S Rose in the mid-1930s. Lewis Samuel Rose (1893-1973) worked as a volunteer Botanist for the California Academy of Science for over 40 years. He collected sets of Californian plants and exchanged them with herbaria around the world. At present it is unknown how his collection came to be in the Herbarium and what Australian plants were sent in exchange to the US.
The expected outputs from this project are:
- a searchable catalogue of the most important collections and individual specimens in the DFES Herbarium (this database will available from here soon)
- collection of information about the important historical collections in the Herbarium (a PDF of an Honours project and associated database of JH Willis’ Synopsis of the indigenous plants within a 10-miles radius of Creswick, Victoria, Australia will be available from here soon)
The expected outcomes of the project are:
- increased profile and awareness of the importance of the Herbarium collection at Creswick amongst staff, students and the general public
- greater leverage for funding to improve the cataloguing and storage facilities of the DFES Herbarium
The quality of the DFES Herbarium depends on ongoing maintenance and protection. It should be preserved as a resource for future researchers and recognised for its historical importance. For further information, please contact Dr Tina Bell.
Forestry at Creswick
http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au/dean/book2/ch7.html
Educational exsiccatae
http://recollections.nma.gov.au/issues/vol_2_no_1/papers/educational_exsiccatae/
Edwin J Semmens
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160251b.htm