Botanical Garden Voucher Project
Botanical gardens, aside from just being beautiful places to spend the afternoon, are institutions which hold documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education. The South Carolina Botanical Garden is home to many significant holdings, including a diverse collection of magnolias, camellia cultivars, a redwood grove and a unique Chihuahuan Desert plants display.
Preserving and Documenting Samples
With the recent and ongoing Natural Heritage Garden, a trail that features a South Carolina mountains-to-coast comprehensive collection of native plants, ordered to ensure a high level of documentation, the Clemson University Herbarium has begun the South Carolina Botanical Garden Voucher Project. An herbarium voucher is physical evidence that a particular plant existed at a particular time in a particular place. This kind of evidence is vital for researchers and those who maintain the SCBG.
Each accessioned SCBG plant will be vouchered — that is, a sample will be collected, the plant’s name, location and date will be recorded, and digital images will be preserved. For most plants, this collection must occur when the plant is in fruit and/or flower, as these elements are often crucial for proper identification. Collected samples will be pressed, dried, labeled and then mounted on acid-free paper and housed in the Clemson Herbarium in perpetuity. The label information will be databased and made accessible to researchers, as will accompanying digital images.
The South Carolina Botanical Garden has an extensive and important Magnolia collection. Eventually this entire collection will be vouchered and accessioned into the Clemson Herbarium Database. Access the South Carolina Botanical Garden Magnolia Collection Inventory List (Microsoft Excel .xlsx format) for current inventory.
SCBG Herbarium Specimens
The Vouchered SCBG Herbarium Specimens (Microsoft Excel .xlsx format) spreadsheet includes a list of what currently has been vouchered. The list is frequently updated. This spreadsheet records the SCBG accessioned plants currently vouchered in the Clemson University Herbarium. The spreadsheet headings/categories are as follows:
- Scientific name.
- Common name or cultivar name.
- SCBG accession number.
- Plant family.
- T/S/V/H/G (Tree, Shrub, Vine, Herbaceous, Graminoid).
- Signage present.
- Fruit present.
- Flower present.
- Leaves present.
- Number of digital images.
