HGWJ SCHWEICKERDT HERBARIUM (PRU)

STAFF MEMBERS

Curator: Prof. A.E. van Wyk
Herbarium Assistant: Mrs. M. Dednam

GENERAL

Founded in 1925, the H.G.W.J. Schweikerdt Herbarium today houses more than 90 000 plant specimens. During the past year (1995/96) about 4 000 new specimens were received, mostly from postgraduate students involved in ecological and taxonomic research. Numerous plant identification queries from students, University staff members and the public are handled. The National Herbarium (PRE), Natal Herbarium (NH) and Stellenbosch Herbarium (STE) assist with plant identifications. The herbarium is computerized and a herbarium management programme developed by Dr. Kevin Balkwill (C.E. Moss Herbarium) is used with great success. The GIS programmes PC ARC/INFO and IDRISI, linked to a database on PARADOX, are being used for the acquisition, storage, analysis and display of plant geographic data.

TRAINING/RESEARCH

Herbarium projects form part of several second and third year practicals. Students are given specific projects to do in the herbarium. Herbarium specimens of selected taxa are examined to demonstrate the information value of such material. Students must know how to use an herbarium and how to prepare and submit herbarium specimens for identification. The herbarium is also used by post graduate students, particularly those in phytosociology, taxonomy and wildlife management. Students must attempt to identify material collected during fieldwork themselves. Only "difficult" specimens are passed on to the National Herbarium. The herbarium provides active support for a large number of research projects. Some of these are (details available on request):

• Synecology/syntaxonomy/phytosociology/vegetation dynamics of the following areas: south-western OFS; northern and central KwaZulu/Natal; eastern Transvaal Highveld; central Transvaal Highveld; Borakalalo Nature Reserve; Letaba Ranch; several game farms in Transvaal and KwaZulu/Natal; Kalahari Thorn Veld; Kalahari Gemsbok National Park; Namaqualand; Kruger National Park rivers.
• Taxonomy/palynology/anatomy/floristics/biogeography/revisions of the following groups: Zantedeschia (Araceae); Myrtaceae; Icacinaceae; Oxalis (Oxalidaceae); Salsola (Chenopodiaceae); Celastraceae; biogeography of southern African Bryophyta; Metzgeria (Hepaticae); Anacardiaceae; Boraginaceae; woody Euphorbiaceae; Lippia (Verbenaceae); Rutaceae; Ekebergia (Meliaceae); flora of the NE Transvaal Escarpment, Doornkloof Nature Reserve, Pondoland, Maputaland, southern Natal and north-eastern Cape; tree flora of southern Africa (illustrated Field Guide to the trees of southern Africa currently in preparation).
• Plant utilization: Indigenous relishes of the Vhavenda and their agricultural potential; bark structure and selective utilization by elephant; indigenous shade plants and their horticultural potential.