Conditions & Policies
- General
The collections of the Nationaal Herbarium Nederland (NHN) are available for study by all qualified visitors. Requests for the loan of specimens will be considered from recognized botanical institutions or departments. Specimens are normally sent on loan for a period of 12 months. If extension of the loan period is required, the receiving institution must make an official request in which it states that the loan is still complete and that the specimens are undamaged. We reserve the right to request the return of our loan material at any time.
Specimens from historical collections such as the Van Royen herbarium and the fungi collections of Persoon are not sent on loan
It is stressed here that the NHN intends to honour the letter and spirit of the Convention of Biological Diversity in the use of its collections. This means that under this agreement the material sent on loan, or derivate thereof, may not be commercialised. Commercialisation includes, but is not limited to, sale, filing a patent application, obtaining or transferring intellectual property rights or intangible rights by sale or licence or in any other manner, commencement of product development, conducting market research, and seeking pre-market approval.
The NHN makes every attempt to follow the resolution regarding herbarium specimens published as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Loan of specimens of CITES listed taxa are sent only to herbaria registered with CITES. Only Virtual Herbarium loans of CITES listed taxa are available for borrowers at non-registered herbaria. The CITES registration number of the Leiden branch of the NHN is NL 008.
Acceptance by the recipient of the material sent on loan constitutes an agreement by the recipient to comply with our loan conditions. If the recipient is unwilling to accept the material under these conditions, the material must be returned.
- Requesting loans
Requests for loans should be made to the chief collection manager of the NHN by a recognized botanical institution or department, which will be responsible for the safe custody and return of the loaned specimens. Please state for whom the material is being requested and the nature of the project. Please provide the names and eventual synonyms under which the specimens are likely to be filed and specify the geographic region(s) desired for the requested species. Please do not request type specimens unless and until they are necessary for critical analysis. The NHN has imaged its type specimens.
If a requested loan involves a significant quantity of specimens, we encourage the investigator to visit our herbarium.Loans of species subject to CITES legislation can only be sent to CITES registered institutes.
- Return and transfer of loans
Specimens should be packed in a similar way to that in which they were received. All loan returns and correspondence concerning the loans should be addressed to the chief collection manager. The receiving institution may not transfer loaned specimens without our permission and permission of willingness to accept transfer from the proposed recipient (which must be another recognized botanical institution). An acknowledgment of the receipt by the receiving institution must then be sent to Leiden.
- Handling of specimens
The sheets must be handled with the greatest care. Please do not bend or fold the sheets or lay them face downward (as for photocopying or scanning). Sheets should be stored in their protective covers and neither sheets nor covers should be directly annotated (see below).
Deep-freezing now disinfects the collections of the NNH. However, in the past the collections have been treated with mercuric chloride to prevent insect damage.WARNING - As it is not always indicated on the sheet, whether it has been treated with mercuric chloride (HgCl2) or not, all material must be handled in such a way your health is not endangered.
- Examination and sampling of specimens
Permission should always be asked to remove material for destructive sampling, e.g. for anatomical, or palynological analysis. The NHN reserves the right to decide which specimens can be sampled or refuse any request for sampling. No herbarium type specimens will be used for destructive sampling. Please sample the herbarium specimens with most leaf material, fruits or flowers first. All unused material is to be returned either in a suitable envelope attached to the herbarium sheet concerned, or separately labelled as appropriate.
The permanent removal of parts of specimens on loan for studies in DNA-analysis is NOT permitted. If such samples are required, a specific request must be made to the chief collection manager of the NHN.
Annotation labels must be glued to each herbarium sheet that has been sampled. The annotation label should include the purpose of the sample, the name of the sampler, and the number and date of sampling.
- Annotations
Identifications and/or confirmations should be given on separate labels, signed by the user. The labels should be glued to the sheet. The annotation labels should be typed or printed, written labels should be legible and prepared in permanent ink. The labels must include taxon name, the investigator’s name, and date of identification. For taxa at the rank of species and below, the name(s) of the author(s) should always be included, preferably using the standard list of Authors of Plant Names, ed. Brummitt & Powell (Kew, 1992). Existing labels must not be removed or damaged and no alterations in the text are allowed. Please do not annotate on the sheets or covers.
- Citation and exchange
It will be highly appreciated if borrowers will:
• Quote the NHN in their publications.
• Inform the NHN about the books and/or journals in which their results are (to be) published, and send at least one copy of their publication(s).
• Assist in filling possible gaps in the collections of the NHN by offering duplicates from their own collections.
- Acquisition policy
Acquisitions come chiefly from exchange with other large herbaria and private donations by Dutch botanists who want a safe depository for their collections, generally of The Netherlands and Europe. Also institutions who want their collections identified regularly send collections. This service is an important source of acquisition for the Leiden branch, chiefly from forest services at Kuching and Sandakan. All presented collections are evaluated by our research staff before it is decided whether it is necessary to deposit them in the NHN. Active collecting programmes also contribute substantially to the growth of our collections.
Our collection policy is selective in that each accession must add additional scientific value to the collections, i.e. be of good quality (with sufficiently detailed label data, in fertile state), add information on the geographical distribution and ecology of the species or on the knowledge of the Flora of a specific area.Specimens will be acquired by the NHN only when they have been obtained in full compliance with the laws and regulations of the countries of origin. The NHN keeps up to date on the changing laws and regulations concerning permits, specimen collecting, ownership, and movement across political boundaries.
- Conditions for DNA extraction
• The usual conditions for the loan of specimens from the Nationaal Herbarium Nederland (NHN) apply.
• Permission must always be asked to remove material for DNA sequencing.
• The NHN reserves the right to decide which specimens can be sampled or to refuse any requests for samples.
• No herbarium type specimens will be used for DNA sequencing.
• Please sample the herbarium specimens with most leaf material, fruits or flowers first.
• All unused material is to be returned either in a packet on the herbarium sheet or separately labelled as appropriate.
• An annotation label is to be glued to the herbarium sheet that has been sampled. Please do not annotate directly on the sheets.
• The annotation label should include the herbarium sheet number or barcode number, the purpose of the sample, any sample numbers, the name of the sampler, and the date of sampling.
• You are kindly requested to send duplicates of all extractions from NHN herbarium collections to the NHN DNA bank.
