University of Belgrade [Serbia] Herbarium – treasury of data and challenges for future research: On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of University of Belgrade Herbarium (1860-2010)

The Herbarium of the University of Belgrade (Serbia), as a special unit of the Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden Jevremovac of the Faculty of Biology, is one of the most significant and the richest herbarium collections not only in Serbia but in the whole of SE Europe. The Herbarium was established in 1860 when a famous Serbian botanist Josif Pančić gave his collection (80 bunches of dried plants from Banat and Srem) to the Great School in Belgrade, currently University of Belgrade. During its 150 year-long history, the fate of the Herbarium University of Belgrade had at times been very uncertain, and in some periods completely unclear. Today, 150 years after its establishment, the Belgrade University Herbarium is registered under code BEOU in the world centre in New York (Holmgren et al. 1990) and contains over 180000 specimens of vascular plants, mosses and algae. Nevertheless, despite the fact that it was partly damaged or transferred to other countries, the Herbarium has not only historical and cultural value today, but it also presents an inevitable [that doesn’t seem to be the correct word. Maybe enviable was intended.] basis for contemporary taxonomic, phytogeographic and floristic research in the Balkan Peninsula. The abundance of chorological data contained in these collections, together with professional taxonomic revision, are published not only as individual articles, but also in new editions of the Flora of SR Serbia (in press) and in the Atlas Florae Europaeae (Jalas et al. 1996, 1999, Kurtto et al. 2004, 2007, 2010). In addition, the Herbarium is a valuable resource for new botanical exploration of the Balkan countries, both for the presentday and future generations, which is in accordance with Pančić’s wording: Were I to live ten men’s lives I would not be able to thoroughly treat a plantlet that I have started to treat – the plantlet called Botany. It is upon you young brethrens, by following my example, to treat that plantlet and its branches in particular.