DOI: 10.15468/827lk2
title: MHA Herbarium: collections of vascular plants

description: The official name of the collection is the Skvortsov Herbarium of the Main Botanical Garden, Russian Academy of Sciences (acronym MHA). In 2020, the herbarium was named after well-known Russian botanist Alexey Konstantinovich Skvortsov (1920–2008). For 36 years, he was the scientific supervisor of the MHA Herbarium.1. History. The herbarium was launched soon after the founding of the Main Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1945. Initially, some minor collections of dry plants were stored in workrooms of the staff.In 1958, upon the construction of the main lab building, the herbarium received a hall of 280 square meters. A special working group headed by V.N. Voroshilov formed the herbarium staff. Upon formal establishment, the MHA Herbarium received an almost complete set of exsiccates “Herbarium of the Flora of the USSR” from the Komarov Botanical Institute (Leningrad) and all botanical collections from the Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology (Moscow), including duplicates of important Moscow collections by D.P. Syreyshchikov, the first curator of the Moscow University Herbarium. These initial holdings were supplemented by the collections from Voronezh and Moscow Oblasts by V.N. Voroshilov, B.M. Kulkov and V.A. Shtamm (Stepanova et al. 2020).In 1966, A.K. Skvortsov became the scientific supervisor of the MHA Herbarium. The main vectors of the herbarium development were formed in this time: “Our collections should provide: 1) orientation in the flora, which can serve as a source of the material for introduction; 2) documentation of the introduction &lt;...&gt; The location of the herbarium in the center of European Russia obliges us to create a regional herbarium” (Skvortsov and Proskuryakova 1973). Skvortsov formed the main sections of the herbarium—the Russian Far East, Siberia, Middle Asia, the Caucasus, the Moscow Region, the European part (European Russia and adjacent republics of the former USSR), the Crimea; General Herbarium (foreign countries); Herbarium of Introduction; Dendrological Herbarium; type collection; Skvortsov’s personal herbarium (taxonomic collections of Salix, Populus, Betula, Epilobium, as well as materials on the flora of the Middle Russia and Lower Volga).Some Russian-language references describe the main milestones in the history of the MHA Herbarium (Skvortsov and Proskuryakova 1973, Skvortsov 1977, Belyanina and Makarov 1994, Skvortsov and Belyanina 2005, Ignatov et al. 2010, Ignatov 2015, Stepanova et al. 2020). Current digitization activities allow us to detail the list of collectors, the time and place of their work, the number of the collected specimens and its taxonomic composition.2. The current state. As of January 2020, the MHA Herbarium holds 615223 specimens of vascular plants and ca. 70000 specimens of bryophytes. This is the fourth largest herbarium of Russia after the Komarov Institute, RAS in St. Petersburg (LE), Moscow State University (MW) and the Joint Novosibirsk Herbarium, RAS (NS + NSK). The general geographical structure of the MHA Herbarium is given in Table 1. The annual growth of the collections since 2015 was ca. 5900 accessions of vascular plants and ca. 2000 accessions of bryophytes.The herbarium of vascular plants is located in two halls (334 square meters) in the main lab building of the Garden. Duplicates and unmounted backlog are stored in several rooms (120 square meters) at Botanicheskaya Street, 33-4 (ten minute walk from the main building). The herbarium of bryophytes is also stored at Botanicheskaya Street in several rooms (180 square meters).Currently, the MHA Herbarium has 12 staff members (of which six are working with vascular plants). There are eight curators & researchers, a mounter, and three employees who are digitizing and filing the specimens. The staff members conduct field research across Russia in Tver, Tula, Kaluga, Belgorod, Rostov, Saratov, Volgograd, Orenburg Oblasts, Kalmykia, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Stavropol Krai, Yakutia, etc. The total duration of expeditions is ca. 240 person-days per year. Fresh collections of the employees forms 70% of new accessions. Other accessions are coming from the exchange, gifts and old backlog.In 2018–2019, the herbarium staff imaged the Moscow section (100%) and the Eastern European section (14.1%) of the MHA Herbarium. In total, 64008 specimens were digitized (600 dpi images and key metadata). These data were published in the Moscow Digital Herbarium in 2019–2020 and fully available in GBIF. Based on these data, a detailed overview of the physical collections of these two sections is given below, as well as spatial, temporal, and taxonomic description of the dataset.As of May 2020, 50324 specimens from MHA Herbarium have georeferences (78.6%) and 39448 specimens have fully captured label transcriptions (61.6%).3. Moscow section holds 49621 specimens and covers two subjects of the Russian Federation—the City of Moscow and Moscow Oblast. The section is completely imaged and curated as a separate unit. Physical separation of the Moscow section from other collections is a result of geographical location of the MHA Herbarium and high intensity of the field research in the area. Full list of collectors consists of 823 surnames, including 127 people who collected more than 10 specimens. The list of top collectors of the Moscow section is given in table 2.The basis of the Moscow section was formed by ca. 2000 specimens by D.P. Syreyshchikov and ca. 700 specimens by P.A. Smirnov collected in 1920s and received from the Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology (Moscow).The staff collected later accessions right in the Garden (Ostankino in Moscow) and various areas across the Moscow Oblast – V.N. Voroshilov (1940–1950s), T.N. Evtyukhova (1940s), V.A. Shtamm (1940–1960s), G.P. Rysina (1960s), B.M. Kulkov (1940–1950s). The donations of V.I. Sobolevsky (1950s), A.A. Nekrasov (1950–1960s), A.I. Manin (1960–1970s), A.P. Khokhryakov (1950–1960s) and others from different areas of the Moscow region enriched the section as well.In 1970–1990s, V.V. Makarov, M.S. Ignatov, A.N. Shvetsov, V.D. Bochkin, E.E. Gogina, A.E. Matsenko made the largest collections across the Moscow region due to the research missions of the Garden employees devoted to rare and endangered plant species, audit and organization of the protected areas with a focus on the districts west of Moscow.Also, the Garden staff studied intensively the alien flora of the Moscow region. This resulted in the special collections by A.K. Skvortsov, V.V. Makarov, M.S. Ignatov, A.N. Shvetsov, expanded later by V.D. Bochkin assisted by S.R. Mayorov, Yu.A. Nasimovich and Yu.K. Vinogradova. Their collections became the basis of monographic reviews on the alien flora of the Moscow region (Ignatov et al. 1990, Mayorov et al. 2012, Mayorov et al. 2020).E.I. Kurchenko (Serpukhov District), N.M. Reshetnikova (Ruza District), V.B. Kuvaev (Znamenskoye near Moscow), Yu.A. Nasimovich with L.A. Deystfeldt (several districts) donated their collections from the Moscow region (Skvortsov and Belyanina 2005). In the last decade, K.Yu. Teplov transferred large collections of rare plants from the locations across the region.4. Eastern European section covers plant collections from European Russia, the Urals, the Baltic countries, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and Western Kazakhstan (west of the Ural River). The section does not include Moscow region, the Caucasus and the Crimea. Today, the section contains 101034 specimens, incl. 14288 imaged specimens (14.1%). Thus, statistics on collectors and collection dates for this section are based on a 14-percent sample that covers pteridophytes, conifers, and most monocots.The collection consists mainly of specimens of the Garden staff collected during field trips since the 1950s. Initially, herbarium vouchers accompanied living plants and seeds collected in wild for the expositions of the Garden. This documentation activity was later supplemented by extensive floristic and taxonomic studies, conservation research and monitoring of alien species.4.1. Lower Volga. The flora of the southeast of European Russia is the most fully represented regional flora of the Eastern European section. The region known as Lower Volga includes Volgograd, Astrakhan, and Saratov Oblasts and the Republic of Kalmykia. This is a predominantly semi-arid steppe region. The list of collectors includes 136 surnames (see top-collectors in Table 3), but for 53 people only one specimens have been digitized so far.A.K. Skvortsov began the studies of the Lower Volga region in 1950s. In 1970–1990s, floristic expeditions were regular and the key collectors of that time were A.K. Skvortsov, A.E. Matsenko, V.V. Makarov, N.B. Belyanina, I.A. Shantser, V.D. Bochkin, as well as staff members of the Volgograd Pedagogical University (N.G. Volodina, V.A. Sagalaev, G.Yu. Klinkova). In 2010s, the collection activities were continued by N.Yu. Stepanova assisted by A.V. Kuvaev (Severtsov Institute) and I.N. Safronova (Komarov Institute) during their floristic studies of the Kuma-Manych depression and the Caspian Lowland.Vast materials helped to assess critically the current state of the flora of the southeast of European Russia and to publish two volumes of the “Flora of the Lower Volga” (Skvortsov 2006, Reshetnikova 2018). The third volume of the series is expected in near future.4.2. Other areas. The MHA Herbarium covers with varying degree of completeness all regions of Eastern Europe within the former USSR. Table 4 shows the main collections from this territory, excluding Lower Volga. Borders of the curatorial areas used in the Moscow Digital Herbarium (https://plant.depo.msu.ru/) are available online.A large number of specimens from the Central forest-steppe region resulted from the recent floristic studies by staff member N.M. Reshetnikova (Belogorye Reserve, Belgorod Oblast) and graduate student A.K. Mamontov (Veidelevsky District, Belgorod Oblast). Collections by V.N. Voroshilov (Voronezh Oblast), V.V. Makarov (Tambov Oblast), and A.P. Khokhryakov (Penza Oblast) should be acknowledged either.Collections from the Western region (Smolensk and Bryansk Obkasts) were also made mainly by the herbarium staff (A.K. Skvortsov, V.V. Makarov, N.B. Belyanina). Yu.E. Alekseev from Moscow University donated his collections from Bryansk Oblast as a gift.A large number of collections from the Central region are associated with lengthy floristic studies by N.M. Reshetnikova in Kaluga Oblast expanded significantly by A.K. Krylov by the study of alien plants (Reshetnikova et al. 2010). In addition, the herbarium was enriched by the collections of V.D. Bochkin and V.V. Makarov from Kaluga, Tula and Vladimir Oblasts. Lesser collections were donated by V.I. Sobolevsky (Kaluga Oblast) and A.P. Seregin (Vladimir and Tula Oblasts).The West-Ukrainian region is represented mainly by collections from the Carpathians donated by V.I. Sobolevsky and A.P. Khokhryakov, and minor gatherings by the expedition headed by A.K. Skvortsov.Major collections from the Eastern region were donated by L.A. Utkin (Southern Urals), A.P. Khokhryakov and M.T. Mazurenko (Bashkiria). A.K. Skvortsov also collected a lot in the 1950s in the Denezhkin Kamen Reserve (Sverdlovsk Oblast) and Zlatoust (Chelyabinsk Oblast).Important collections from other areas include:• Northern region—A.K. Skvortsov (Western Polar Urals, Khibiny), T.M. Smirnova (Karelia, Kola Peninsula), M.S. Ignatov (Arkhangelsk Oblast, Nenets Autonomous Okrug);• Rostov Region—N.Yu. Stepanova (Kumo-Manch Depression and adjacent areas);• Western Siberia—A.K. Skvortsov (Eastern Polar Urals);• Lithuania and the North-Ukrainian region—V.V. Makarov.