The Herbarium Museum CAG in Cagliari can be divided into two major sections:
- The Sardinian Herbarium, which contains approximately 35,000 specimens collected exclusively in Sardinia (131 families and 820 genuses), 2261 of which are endemic plants, 3021 belong to the Leguminosae family, 1982 to the Asteraceae family, 1922 to the Graminaceae family and 1423 to the Orchidaceae family.
Moreover, the Herbarium is a repository for 14 Holotypus that belong to the Ophrys, Silene, Narcissus, Serapias, Ferula, Dianthus, Anchusa and Quercus types. They can help to describe and define a new species according to scientific standards.
Among the historic collections, it worth mentioning Patrizio Gennari’s Collection regarding the island of Caprera’s fauna (Florula di Caprera) whose exsiccate were mainly collected on Sardinia and the island of Santo Stefano and La Maddalena.
- The General Herbarium, comprising approximately 30,000 specimens from various areas.
To this, we should also add a collection of:
- Cryptogams : Algae, Bryophytes, Fungi, Lichens – including specimens of the Sardinian and Italian Cryptogram Herbarium and the cryptogrammic section of Rabenhorst dating back to 1854.
- Galls: “ Cecidoteca Italiaca ” - 575 Italian galls categorized, prepared and described by A. Trotter and G. Cecconi from 1899 to 1913, and collected in 23 folders that have been stored in nine perfectly preserved boxes.
Here below:
To the left: screw-down plant press for exsiccata (end of the 19th century): square shape and central handle. The collected specimen was placed between two paper tampons and pressed.
To the right: Vascula (end of the 19th century): metallic containers with a strap used to preserve plant specimens and transport them without crushing.
