Making La Trobe University’s eucalypt collection publicly accessible
Dr Alison Kellow
La Trobe University
La Trobe University has a significant collection of eucalypt specimens, arising from taxonomic research
by staff and postgraduate students. Considerable work had been undertaken to mount and label the
specimens but many were not curated, hence the information they contain was inaccessible to the
public and other researchers. 936 specimens were mounted, georeferenced, databased and the data
incorporated into Australia’s Virtual Herbarium. This comprised 723 Eucalyptus specimens representing 82
taxa and hybrids, 7 Corymbia specimens representing 4 taxa and 206 Angophora specimens representing 20
taxa and hybrids. Of particular interest are 156 sheets of Eucalyptus stellulata and E. mitchelliana, and 108 sheets of E. cinerera and E. cephalocarpa from across their geographic ranges. Many duplicate specimens of
Angophora were uncovered through sorting of the collection and have been despatched to other
herbaria.