Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 36/1. (2016)
Botany
THE ORCHIDACEAE FAMILY IN COLLECTIONS OF MURE§ COUNTY MUSEUM, NATURAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT Mihaela SÄMÄRGHIJAN Muzeul Judefean Mure§, Secfia de §tiiryele Naturii Targu-Mure$, str. Horea nr. 24, RO-540036 Targu-Mure$, msamarghitan@yahoo. com Abstract: This paper presents a part of the plants’ collection of the Mures County Museum namely Orchidaceae family. A number of 184 herbarium sheets with plants belonging to this family were processed. The research of botanical collection has identified a total of 42 taxa represented by 16 genera, 35 species, 3 subspecies and 4 varieties and forms belonging to the Orchidaceae family. The specified data are mentioned for each species: date and place of collection, the name of whom collected it and of whom determined the plant, the sozological category and the conservation status. In brackets are also mentioned the inventory numbers of the herbarium sheets included in inventory registries Superior Plants (I, II and III) of the Department of Natural Sciences. The species come from the collection of spontaneous flora, in many towns in the Mure§ county and in different parts of Romania. The oldest specimens come from Odor collection, dating from 1890—1891. Among the species of orchid preserved in the herbarium of the museum are three species of Community interest listed in Annexes of the Habitats Directive (Cypripedium calceolus, Liparis loeselii, Himantoglossum jankae). Introduction The heritage of Natural Sciences Department of Mure§ County Museum contains numerous collections, whose scientific and documentary value is indisputable. The museum Herbarium comprises about 20000 pieces coming from field research, donations and purchases. More than 15000 herbarium sheets, seeds and fruits of wild and cultivated plants and woods, make up this collection. Among them many species of rare plants, relicts, endemic and natural monuments, mentioned in the national and international red lists are found. The scientific value of this collection lies in the fact that there are herbarium sheet with rare species or collected from areas where those species have disappeared, and also that some were collected by the famous botanists. Geographical area of collection was mostly our country, but there are sheets with plants collected from different countries in Europe. Of particular importance is Nagy Ödön collection, numbering 4800 herbarium sheets and reflecting the flora of Targu-Mure§ surroundings and beyond. By age and variety of species found in Museum’s Herbarium this constitutes an outstanding scientific value data base. M A R I S I A, XXXVI, p. 31—42
