HERBARIUM OF THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF RIO DE JANEIRO, RIO DE JANEIRO (RB) Rafaela Campostrini Forzza, Anibal Carvalho Jr., Antônio Carlos S. Andrade, Luciana Franco, Marcus Nadruz, Neusa Tamaio Tamaio, Viviane S. Fonseca-Kruel S. Fonseca-Kruel Fonseca-Kruel

Abstract

Created in 1892, on the initiative of João Barbosa Rodrigues, the Herbarium RB of the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro gathers approximately 650 thousand records, of which 620 thousand are exsiccates (7.500 nomenclatural types), in addition to fruits, spirit, and ethno botanical collections, DNA and seed banks, and fungi cultures. The most representative families are Leguminosae, Asteraceae, Melastomataceae, Bromeliaceae, Rubiaceae, Poaceae, and Myrtaceae. The herbarium houses samples from all across the Brazilian territory, with a large number of specimens collected in Rio de Janeiro state (150 thousand). Therefore, the Atlantic Forest is the best represented Brazilian biome (ca. 30%). The collection’s digitization started in 2005 with the creation of the institutional system, named JABOT. Constant upgrades were made during the last decade, thanks to public and private investments, including the construction of a digitization module and the improvement of public interface. In addition, all information of specimens, including their images, are published on other biodiversity portals, such as Reflora Virtual Herbarium, SiBBr and GBIF.