Resources of Australian Herbaria

Compiled by K.J.Cowley & J.G.West on behalf of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH)

HERBARIUM CODE:

CNS

CITES number:

AU047

HERBARIUM NAME:

Australian Tropical Herbarium

DEPARTMENT / ORGANISATION:

CONTACT DETAILS
Street Address:

Australian Tropical Herbarium
Sir Robert Norman (E2) Building
James Cook University Cairns Campus
McGregor Road
SMITHFIELD QLD 4878
AUSTRALIA

Postal Address:

P.O. Box 6811

City:

CAIRNS

State:

Qld

Postcode:

4870

Telephone:

07 4042 1837

Facsimile:

07 4042 1842

Email:

enquiry@ath.org.au

Location:

E2 building on James Cook University’s Cairns campus

AUTHORITY/STATUS:

ACCESS:

Collections accessible to researchers, by appointment
Basic inquiry services provided to public
Public Reference Collection: 9:30 am – 4:00 pm daily, Monday to Friday

ASSOCIATED LIVING COLLECTION:

Arboretum of Tropical Forest Research Centre, Atherton, Qld

FOUNDATION:

The Australian Tropical Herbarium (CNS) is a joint venture formed in 2008 by the amalgamation of the CSIRO Atherton Herbarium (QRS), the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management Mareeba collection (MBA) ), and part of the James Cook University collection (JCT).

FUNCTIONS:

Research, reference, contributing to discovery, documentation and understanding of the flora of tropical Australia and neighbouring regions.

GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE:

Australia 's tropics, especially northeastern Australian rainforests; related plant groups of Papua New Guinea, Pacific, and southeast Asia.

TAXONOMIC SCOPE:

Existing collections of all vascular plant groups. Developing collections of algae, bryophytes and fungi.

NUMBER OF SPECIMENS:

Total

Types

Angiosperms

85,434

-

Dicots

77,231

441

Monocots

8,203

56

Gymnosperms

731

1

Pteridophytes

3,896

8

Mosses

-

-

Liverworts

-

-

Lichens

-

-

Fungi

-

-

Algae

-

-

Fossils

-

-

Wood Samples

c. 1400

-

Accessioned

-

-

Unaccessioned

500

-

Status:

All mounted and processed specimens databased.

Database Name:

Australian Tropical Herbarium Information System (ATHIS)

Database Description:

Oracle database

Number of Specimen Records:

91,961

Access:

Access restricted to authorised users, data transfers may involve data licence agreements.

Email and Internet:

General enquiries: enquiry@ath.org.au;
Internet: www.ath.org.au/

Significant Historical Collections:

Atherton Forestry Office in 1994;
BRIU in part (rainforest specimens);
CAIRNS in 1971;
JCT in part in 2007;
MBA in 2007;
QRS in 2007

Significant Special Collections:

Australian Rain Forest Tree Collection.
Australian Rain Forest Vine Collection.
Australian Rain Forest Seedlings.
Alick Dockrill orchid collection

Ancillary Collections:

Wet collection of rain forest species mainly flowers & fruits. (c. 16000 jars).
DNA / frozen tissue bank of tropical Australian flora (c. 2500 samples)

Photographic Collections:

The image collection used in the production of the ‘Australian Tropical Rain Forest Plants’ interactive identification system.

Botanical Library:

Mainly a subset of CSIRO, Black Mountain Library. Access during normal work hours by appointment; worldwide tropical areas with emphasis on Australia, western Pacific and South East Asia.

Director:

Darren Crayn

Curator:

Frank Zich

Manager:

-

Chief Botanist:

-

Taxonomists:

Darren Crayn
Mark Harrington
Katharina Schulte
Paul Gadek
Sandra Abell
Frank Zich

Ecologists/Evolutionary Biologists:

Eda Addicott
Jonathan Cornelius
Tony Page
Gerry Turpin

Technical Officers:

Andrea Lim
Gary Wilson
Mark Newton
Peter Bannink

Volunteers:

c. 15

Associates:

Bruce Gray
Bernie Hyland
John Clarkson
Wendy Cooper
Andrew Ford
Fanie Venter

Taxonomic:

Origins of the Australian Wet Tropics flora – a molecular phylogenetic perspective
Systematics and Evolution of Elaeocarpaceae
Systematics of Ericaceae subfamily Styphelioideae (formerly Epacridaceae)
Systematics of Tecomanthe (Bignoniaceae)
Systematics of truffle fungi in tropical Australia
Systematics of entomopathic fungi (Ophiocordyceps) in Australia
Systematics of Wilkiea (Monimiaceae)

Non-Taxonomic:

Vegetation mapping of northern Queensland
Australian Tropical Rain Forest Plants, an interactive identification system.
DNA barcoding Australian Tropical Trees
Phylogenetic diversity analysis in the Wet Tropics flora
Ethnobotany in northeastern Australia

Relating to the Collection:

Australian Tropical Rain Forest Plants, an interactive identification system for Australian tropical rain forest plants. First published in 1993, the most recent version was published in 2003. Work continues on the next version which will include other life forms such as herbs, parasites, saprophytes, palms and pandans.

Relating to the Herbarium:

-

Notes:

In 2007, the herbarium collections, staff and projects of Australian National Herbarium Atherton (QRS), Queensland Environmental Protection Agency Mareeba (MBA) and part of James Cook University Townsville (JCT) were incorporated into a new joint venture the “Australian Tropical Herbarium”. Specimens originally from QRS will continue to be cited as QRS; specimens originally from MBA will continue to be cited as MBA; specimens originally from JCT will continue to be cited as JCT.