HERBARIUMS AND THE BRAZILIAN NETWORK OF HERBARIUMS (RBH) OF THE BRAZIL BOTANICAL SOCIETY Ana Odete Santos Vieira

Abstract

Brazilian herbaria registered in the Brazilian Herbal Network (RBH) – of the Brazilian Botanical Society reached, in 2015, two important numbers: the registration of 200 active herbaria and more than 8,000,000 records for the set of collections, installed in all federation units and in different research and teaching institutions. From the first herbarium founded in Brazil, the Herbarium of the National Museum (1831, R), herbaria were established, expanding and diversifying their collections, training teams, computerizing records and images and making them available online, alone or on national platforms and international. Botanists, through the Brazilian Botanical Society - SBB, bring together discussions and referrals aimed at increasing the training of taxonomists and the maintenance of herbaria. One of these initiatives, derived from the “Herbarium Committee”, was developed as the Brazilian Herbary Network (RBH). RBH's activities in recent years are reported, which aim to meet its mission of “articulating the development of Brazilian herbaria and their associated and auxiliary collections”.