E. C. Smith Herbarium - Cape Breton University Collection
Acadia University
Description
Today, the E. C. Smith Herbarium contains over 200,000 specimens, including vascular plants, bryophytes, and fungi. It is the largest herbarium in Atlantic Canada and the first Canadian herbarium to have a digital database with scanned images of the collection. The Acadia Herbarium began as an initial gift to Dr. H. G. Perry of a small collection made by G. U. Hay of St. John, New Brunswick. Included in this collection were a few plants collected by J. Fowler of New Brunswick before he went to Queen's University. These first specimens were collected between 1868 and 1880. Some of the plants were cultivated and some were from the United States. Subsequently, in these early years, the additions were made chiefly through the work of Dr. H. G. Perry and his students. No records were available until the collection numbered some 6,000 sheets. Included in the 6,000, however, are a number of sheets from the Gray Herbarium Expeditions to Nova Scotia in 1920 and 1921. Of the specimens above the 6000 count, the majority have been added by the work of Dr. M. V. Roscoe and her students from 1928-1940 and Dr. H. P. Banks and his students from 1940-1946. In 1946 a large collection was being assembled by Mr. David Erskine, who catalogued the Flora of Wolfville and vicinity. During Dr. E. C. Smith's tenure at Acadia (1947-1971) the number of specimens grew from 20,000 sheets to over 70,000. In 1970, Acadia University's Board of Governors announced that the department's excellent collection of plants would be named the E. C. Smith Herbarium as tribute to him for his contributions to the collection.
Digitization of Vascular plants from the Cape Breton University teaching collection with a focus on plants of the Acadian Forest Region.
Taxonomic range
Kingdoms covered include: Plantae.
Geographic range
Primarily the Flora of the Acadian Forest Region. However, there are smaller collections within the herbarium that stem from research initiatives across the globe.
Number of specimens in the collection
The estimated number of specimens in the E. C. Smith Herbarium - Cape Breton University Collection is 5,000.
Of these 2,864 are databased. This represents 57.3 % of the collection.
Click the Records & Statistics tab to access those database records that are available through the atlas.
Usage statistics
Metadata last updated on 2018-08-02 14:15:14.0
Digitised records available through the Atlas
The E. C. Smith Herbarium - Cape Breton University Collection has an estimated 5,000 specimens.
The collection has databased 57.3 % of these (2,864 records).
Looking up... the number of records that can be accessed through the Canadensys Collections Click to view all records for the E. C. Smith Herbarium - Cape Breton University Collection
No records are available for viewing in the Canadensys Collections.
