FUNGARIAN , HERBARIUM / BRIT

Who knew a BRIT could be part of our Texas garden trip?

Actually it wasn't a person from England but rather the BRIT-Botanic Research Institute of Texas which is open to the public by appointment only.  BRIT is one of 10 largest Herberia in the U.S.

Have you ever heard the word 'herbarium' ? 

I hadn't. 

It's a collection of categorized dried plants which are preserved, labeled with specimen's name. collection date, place of origin and categorization along with other pertinent info. 

Samples of many of these plants may be obtained for specific scientific studies.   

Those who chose to go on the BRIT tour heard from our impassioned BRIT employees about where they work and what they do. 

Private donations are conserved from all over the world with the earliest acquisition being from the late 1700's. 

Entire collections arrive for a myriad of reasons. 

4 major collections housed here include:

*   450,000 specimens and 45,000 books from SMU (1987)

*   380,000 herbarium specimens from Vanderbilt ( 1997)

*   78,000   specimens from  Southeastern OSU    ( 2000)

*  470,000  specimens from U of La  (2017)

We heard about how this plant conservation occurs first by  pressing specimens, using low heat to dry them, followed by freezing them to kill insects/ their eggs for 2-4 hours. 

Volunteers help employees in attaching samples to archival paper and categorizing them by color regarding origin.

Afterwards these specimens are placed on shelves in air and light tight storage containers in a room kept at 64 degrees. 

Scientists and individuals can study the samples sometimes dissecting parts for various projects.

Cubby lab space is available for individual investigation. 

We also viewed the library with one of the world's finest collections of botanical books, a children's library spanning 3 centuries, a teachers resource center, and a botanical art collection in addition to a rare book collection starting from the mid 1500's.

Eventually digitization of the hiberium will make their entire collection accessible to all of us.

BRIT's tour was a wonderful hour of education of plant preservation and its implication into understanding our botanical world. 

And our day wasn't over yet...