Botanical collection of plants
The beginnings of constituting the botanical collection of superior and inferior plants of the Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, also called Scientific Herbarium, date more than 60 years back, namely during the period 1948-1954, when the sheets with pressed plants that existed in the herbarium pertaining to the collections of the of the Village Museum were brought here. This recently acquired vast and precious material required specific organisation, which was also achieved during the time interval 1953-1954, when it was alphabetically systematized, after the scientific name of the plants. This collection also consists of botanized vegetal material, collected since the second half of the XIX-th century so far. The geographical area of collection was predominantly the territory of our country, but sheets also exist with plants collected from areas abroad, such as the Netherlands.
The herbarium includes more than 70.000 sheets with pressed plants, in various development stages, from budding stage. Almost all species of superior plants in the country, as well as many species of inferior plants are represented in the collection. Its scientific value consists both in the fact that there are herbarium sheets with rare species or collected from areas where the respective species disappeared, and in the fact that they were collected by famous botanists. Among these we mention Julius Römer, D. Tătăranu, I. Macarie, H. Heltman, D. Parascan, M. Danciu, P. Ularu, E. Lungulescu etc. The first of them, Julius Römer (1848-1926), but not only, actually participated in the constitution of this collection by donating his own herbarium. The sheets he donated expose plants collected more than 125 years ago, such as for instance a Daphnae cneorum, dated on May 10, 1883. The explaining label of this sheet contains the great botanist’s autographic signature. Julius Römer was professor at Braşov and remains one of the most thorough researchers of the flora from Ţara Bârsei (the areas Ciucaş, Postăvarul, Stejăriş, Hărman).
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Figure 1. „Daphne cneorum”, plant collected in 1883 by J. Römer (collection of plants) |
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Figure 2. „Salix pentandra” (willow), collected in 1954 (collection of dendrological material) |
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As regards the method for conserving the plants existing in the Scientific Herbarium, they were prepared through the typical procedure of drying through pressing and then gluing on cardboard sheets filed in folders kept in glass-protected wooden closets. The criterion for arranging these folders remained the alphabetic one. Because the preservation methods were adequate, the vegetal material has to this day a good conservation state. The scientific herbarium, as its name says, is currently intended for scientific research, constituting a rich and varied resource for the specialists in the field of systematic botany.