Botany: Herbarium Pacificum (BISH)
The Herbarium Pacificum (BISH) collection consists of approximately 750,000 plant, algae and fungi specimens. Our emphasis is on Hawai‘i and the Pacific Basin, but we also house representative material from other world regions. The collections of Hawaiian plants form the largest and most comprehensive assemblage of such specimens in the world, with approximately 182,500 specimens.
Summary of Collections at BISH as of November, 2011.
Numbers in brackets give the percentage of collections databased.
*Type specimen value includes 2,184 photographs, drawings, and fragments of type specimens.
| Collection | Hawaiian items | World items | Total |
| Type specimens | 6,210 (100) |
6,922 (100) |
13,132* |
| Vascular plants | 152,552 (100) |
c.450,000 (15) |
c.609,552 |
| Bryophytes | 12,520 (100) |
c.18,600 (9) |
c.31,120 |
| Algae | 31,857 (100) |
46,306 (100) |
78,163 |
| Fungi & lichens | 5,256 (100) |
c.9,000 (38) |
c.14,256 |
| Totals | 215,502 (100) |
c.530,447 (23) |
c.746,223 |
Numerous collections of major importance to Hawaiian botany and phycology are located at BISH, including those by H. St. John, F.R. Fosberg, O. Degener, J.F. Rock, C.N. Forbes, B.C. Stone, D.R. Herbst, W.L. Wagner, D. Nelson, U.J. Faurie, G.C. Munro, H. Mann, W.T. Brigham, I.A. Abbott, and M.S. Doty.
Type specimens have been imaged and are housed in a fire-protected room.
Need to borrow specimens or visit the Herbarium Pacificum? Click here for more information.
Collections Management
- Care and curation of BISH collections.
- Databasing of all Pacific vascular plant, bryophyte, and algae specimens.
- Geo-referencing of all specimen localities from Hawaii, New Guinea, and the Polynesia-Micronesia region using MaNIS protocols.
- High resolution imaging of BISH Type specimens, Hawaii's rare and endangered species, New Guinea, and Pacific collections.
- Member of the Consortium of Pacific Herbaria.
Current Projects
- Assisting with the identification of unknown plant specimens for State and Federal Agencies, non-profit organizations, and the general public.
- Oahu Early Detection of incipient weed species program.
- Population genetics of rare Schiedea species on US Army lands.
Current HBS Surveys and Inventories
- Checklist of Hawaii's flora.
Current PBS Surveys and Inventories
- Marine Benthic Algae of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Marine Benthic Algae from the Manu‘a Islands, American Samoa.
- Pacific Basin Vascular Plant Checklist.
- Checklist of flora of New Guinea, and expeditions to discover and document the flora of Papua New Guinea.
For more information, contact Botany staff at (808) 848 4181
Projects in the Herbarium Pacificum are funded in part by the National Science Foundation (DEB-0950207 and DEB-1057453), and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
