DENTROLOGICAL HERBARIA

DENTROLOGICAL HERBARIA

Dendrological herbaria are a specific type of botanical collection: they focus solely on preserving the samples of woody plants (trees, shrubs, subshrubs) and presenting their texture, colour, odour, and other morphological or anatomical properties. Aside from being the subject of interest to collectors, they were created mainly for teaching purposes. Nowadays, they are valued for their aesthetic aspect but also as a reminder of the variety of species of woody plants. Such collections often take the form of wooden books or boxes, usually made from the wood of a tree or shrub whose sample is found inside. The spine of the book is often decorated with glued-on bark, twigs, lichens, or moss, and often also with elaborate label with the name of the species. In the book are the leaves, twigs with buds, and samples of seeds and fruits of the tree or shrub. On the inverse of the spine is a little compartment with a text describing the characteristics of the featured species. In the past, such herbaria were often included in cabinets of curiosities. The oldest date to late eighteenth century but most of the surviving samples were created in the nineteenth century.

In the Czech Republic, there survive several notable collections of such herbaria, for instance in the library of the Strahov Monastery in Prague or in the Museum of Kroměříž. Other dendrological herbaria are found in the Nelahozevez Chateau, Ohrada Chateau (where they are part of collections of the National Museum of Agriculture), or in the Museum of South-Eastern Moravia in Zlín. Probably the largest such collection is the xylotheque of the Museum of Hunting and Forestry in Úsov (part of the History Museum in Šumperk), which includes 112 wooden books.