The Herbarium of the Botanical Society of Basel
The Herbarium of the Basler Botanische Gesellschaft (Basel Botanical Society) is one of the largest private herbaria in the world, with about 300'000 specimens. It is particularly rich in plants from Central Europe and the Mediterrenean region, including Turkey.
When the Basler Botanische Gesellschaft was founded in 1952, the board initiated a corporate herbarium with several small and large private herbaria that otherwise would have disappeared (international herbarium code: BASBG). Due to donations, legacies, exchanges and some purchase, this corporate herbarium now is a large collection with more then 300'000 specimen. The focus area of this collection lies in Central Europe and the entire Mediterranean area. Particularly well represented regions include Turkey, due to efforts of several botanists from Basel, including Dr. Arthur Huber-Morath and Max Nydegger. Genera that are exceptionally well represented include Verbascum (Scrophulariaceae) and Hieracium (Asteraceae), both including many Types, from which new species were described.
The Herbarium is since September 2017 curated jointly with the Herbarium of the Department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Basel (BAS) and the Jany Renz Orchid Herbarium (RENZ), under the name "Herbaria Basel", with the help of enthusiastic volunteers of the Basel Botanical Society.