Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.20302/NC.2026.35.25
Plethora of plants – collections of the Botanical Garden, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb (11): Reconstructing Historic Collections from Forgotten and Discarded Sources
Sanja Kovačić
orcid.org/0000-0003-0084-1638
; Botanical Garden, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 9a, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
*
* Corresponding author.
Supplements: kovacic suppl tab_natcroat 2026.pdf
Abstract
Through as much as eight different states, three economic concepts and three wars over the last 137 years, Botanical Garden lost most of its plant collections, documents and records. The plants in collections have been replaced and changed over the years, but what was left of the data preceding the Second World War is yet to be reconstructed. Since the content of the historic collections is still largely unknown, any information about their dynamics is welcome. Until recently, the Garden database established after 1948 was considered to be the comprehensive inventory of plant species. Late in 2025, a misplaced bundle of 673 paper-cardlets was discovered, each carrying a single species name. This brought to light previously unknown allochthonous plants and sources of material grown in collections between the 1950ies and 1990ies. For more of 200 species this was the first record of existence in the Garden collections.
Keywords
Zagreb Botanical Garden; Faculty of Science; historic plant collections
Hrčak ID:
349937
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2026.
Visits: 0 *