Herbarium of the Virgin Islands National Park: Consolidation and curation of a reference collection

Knausenberger, Walter; Matuszak, John; Thomas, Toni

Description of the preparation of an herbarium for Virgin Islands National Park. Includes a list of the 600 species included in the collection. Also lists 210 species observed, but not included, and a discussion of botanical work that is underway or has been published. This report documents the establishment of a reference collection of vascular plants indigenous to or naturalized on St. John, based on collections made by Roy 0. Woodbury and associates, largely in 1983 and 1984. Determinations were made almost exclusively by Woodbury. The collections were consolidated, curated and organized by the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service (VICES) under contract to the Virgin Islands Resource Management Cooperative (VIRMC). The St. John reference collection (herbarium) is physically housed at the Virgin Islands Biosphere Reserve Center, Lind Point, St. John, with the voucher (and reference) collections of other organisms. The Woodbury collection consists of·at least 600 species distributed among 99 families, represented by some 1156 mounted specimens (List A of Reference Herbarium List). Sterile specimens in the collections are listed separately in List B. As a convenience and cross-reference, synoptic lists of the included families are provided in phyloqenetic and alphabetical order (Lists C and D). An additional 210 species are listed separately (Appendix I) as sight records, so that the total flora recorded stands at 810, including at least six new species and 12 rare, endangered species. The lists include numbers of specimens per species, and of specimens with inflorescence and/or fruit. Additional fern species noted by G. B. Proctor in 1984, but not in the reference collection, are nQted in Appendix II. The VICES retained 185 species (186 sheets) of plants for which there were sufficient numbers of mounted specimens (Appendix III). The entire project served the important goal of enhancing the capability of the University of the V.I. in serving the public in plant-related information outreach through the VICES. Finally, an overview is presented of floristic studies (published, unpublished, and in proqress) on St. John and the Virgin Islands. Information is summarized on existinq herbarium collections, floral revisions in progress, endangered species of plants, vegetational structure, and living plant collections in the Virgin Islands.