New Filing System for Melanesian Specimens at the Herbarium Pacificum (BISH)

Taxon, Summer 1993

The flora of Melanesian has long been of interest to curatorial and research staff and affiliates of the Herbarium Pacificum (BISH). Dr. A. C. Smith’s study of Fijian plants has made this one of the best documented components in the BISH Herbarium. Similarly, collections from New Guinea form a large and diverse representation of the Melanesia section at BISH. The Herbarium contains one of the finest collections of Papuan alpine flora in the world due to the work of Dr. Pieter van Royen. Substantial collections from the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Vanuatu are also filed in the Melanesian genus folder. Specimens from recent expeditions in New Guinea are now being processed. This new material comes primarily from Dr. Wayne Takeuchi’s collecting as part of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) phytochemical screening project. Furthermore, we are receiving duplicates on exchange from NCI collaborators in Irian Jaya, the Indonesian state on the western half of New Guinea. The arrival of these combined collections is adding many new specimens of Melanesian material.

 In order to accommodate these incoming specimens, a new filing system has been instituted. Previously, our Pacific collections had been divided among eight geographic regions and specimens from New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Solomon Island were filed in one folder labeled “Melanesia”. This system had worked well for many years, but rapidly increasing number of specimens has created the need to subdivide our collections from Melanesia. The new arrangement will retain the same herbarium-wide alphabetic filing system. However, three distinct sub-regions within Melanesia are recognized: New Guinea (both Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya) which includes the Bismark and Louisiade Archipelagos; New Caledonia including the Loyalty Islands; Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands (including Bougainville). These changes provide a more precise curation of all Melanesian collections. Moreover, they also illustrate the variable phytogeography and floristic diversity of Melanesia as a whole. This is particularly true when considering the high levels of endemism in both New Caledonia and New Guinea.

 

Actual reorganization of Melanesian specimens in the BISH collection was initiated in April 1992. Currently 350 genera have been converted to the new filing system. In this process all specimens in each genus folder for Melanesia are sorted by location. Those from New Guinea and New Caledonia are segregated into new region-specific folders. The remaining island groups are kept in the folder labeled “Melanesia”. However, many larger genera will be specified by island group within the Melanesia folders. With larger genera such as Ficus, Pittosporum and Psychotria considerable time is spent sorting out specimens. Alternatively, genera with fewer species such as Palmeria, Stegnanthera ,and Basisperma are rapidly integrated into the new system. This rather large curatorial project will have been completed by the end of 1992. Ultimately this new filing system should improve collections management in the world herbarium at BISH. For further information and a monthly update of refilled genera from Melanesia contact Keith P. Tomlinson, Herbarium Pacificum, Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St., P.O. Box 19000a, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-0916, U.S.A.; Telephone (+1-808)848-4181.