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National Herbarium, Pakistan (National Herbarium, Pakistan-RAW)

The National Herbarium of Pakistan has its origins in R.R. Stewart’s extensive plant collections made between 1912 and 1959. In 1960, Stewart gave his specimens to Eugene Nasir of Gordon College, Rawalpindi, who added more specimens to it. In 1974, the College transferred the expanded collection to the National Agricultural Center, Islamabad, where it became the National Herbarium with E. Nasir as its Director. Today, the National Herbarium has over 100,000 specimens. Most specimens are from Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. In 1970, Nasir and S.I. Ali (Karachi University) began work on the Flora of Pakistan. It was completed in 2021 and treats over 6000 species. The importance of the National Herbarium to the Flora is evident in the number of its specimens cited. Conserving Pakistan’s rich plant heritage is crucial to development of novel drugs and new crops because plants sustain all other forms of life and are a major source of novel therapeutic compounds. The Flora of Pakistan is critical to conservation of plant heritage. Increasing awareness of the importance of this heritage is also important. Drs. Yasin Nasir and Rubina Akhtar contributed to this goal by publishing attractively illustrated works, such as Wildflowers of Pakistan, designed for a general audience. More recently, the National Herbarium established a Botanical Conservatory for native and exotic species of economic importance. It has sections dedicated to hydrophytes, herbs, cacti/succulents, climbers, shrubs and trees and includes about 250 native plant species collected from different regions of country. The conservatory is both attractive and a valuable tool for research and education. Thus Pakistan’s National Herbarium continues to be an important resource for plant identification, research, development of conservation strategies, and increasing awareness of Pakistan’s flora. Making its records available online reflects continued commitment to these goals.
Contacts: Amir Sultan, amirsultan_2000@yahoo.com
Collection Type: Preserved Specimens
Management: Live Data managed directly within data portal
Global Unique Identifier: f788444c-d96b-4e99-bf3b-734c0e614a3c
Digital Metadata: EML File
Rights Holder: Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (http://www.parc.gov.pk/)
Address:
National Herbarium, Pakistan
National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road
Near Shahzad Town
Islamabad, ICT   46000
Pakistan
+92519255042
Collection Statistics
  • 1,611 specimen records
  • 65 (4%) georeferenced
  • 3 (0.19%) with images (3 total images)
  • 1,583 (98%) identified to species
  • 138 families
  • 611 genera
  • 938 species
  • 1,032 total taxa (including subsp. and var.)
Extra Statistics
Show Geographic Distribution
Show Family Distribution
Taxon Distribution
Taxon Distribution