Research and projects
Index Seminum
Index seminum is a catalogue – a list of the collected saved seed material held by a botanic garden or other scientific research institution in a seed bank. The term is translated from the Latin, and its literal translation means ‘seed list’.
The origins of systematic seed inventories in botanic gardens date back to 1682. In that year, Dr Paul Hermann, a member of the staff of the Botanic Garden of Leiden University (Netherlands), was the first to draw up a complete list, a catalogue, of the plant species whose seeds he kept in the Botanic Garden and which were intended to be exchanged with other institutions, the botanic gardens. The Index Seminar, which many Botanic Gardens make public on their websites, makes it possible to obtain information on the location and quantity of the desired plant material and to obtain or order it more easily.
The Index Seminum enables sustainable conservation, didactic demonstration and exchange of plant material, which is also the primary activity of botanic gardens.
