Location

     Old part (Vascular plants collection): Room 401/2 (4th floor), Dept. of Biology Building, Fac. of Science.

     New Part (Bryophytes, Algae, lichens, spirit and plant fossil collections): PSU Natural History Museum Building (3rd floor- part), Fac. of Science. (in preparation)

Address

          PSU herbarium, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand, 90112. Tel. ++66-074-28-8514 Fax ++66-074-212-917 E-mail: skiticha@ratree.psu.ac.th

Background

          The PSU herbarium was initially founded for the purpose of teaching, however, It gradually became more important as a reference collection for various kinds of research related to plants in the region of Peninsular Thailand.

          The Herbarium specimen collection at PSU Herbarium began in 1970 in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University. The collection has gradually increased in size over the years with the help of department staff as well as the students, especially, the graduate students in Plant Taxonomy and Plant Ecology. Unfortunately during the initial stages, fungi and insects, destroyed many specimens due to inadequate facilities.

          The present herbarium began to take shape in 1974 with the support from the World Bank and the kind contributions from the late Prof. Kasin Suvatabhandhu, Dept. of Botany, Chulalongkorn University, a famous Thai botanist at that time.

          In 1976 Prof. Jack Cannon from the University of Western Australia initiated phytochemistry research at PSU. This resulted in an increase in the number of plant specimens.

          More specimens were added to the herbarium between 1977–1979 when two American botanists from Harvard University, Mr. Gordon Congdon and Mr. Clement Hamilton, joined the herbarium. Some of their collections from Tarutao National Park in Peninsular Thailand are of significant value, since many rare species are included.

          From 1984 –1986, the number of specimens increased significantly when Mr. James .F. Maxwell was attached to the herbarium following his assignment at the Singapore Botanical Garden.

          By 1987 there were more than 7000 specimens when the herbarium became internationally known after appearing in the Index Herbariorum.

          After the 1980s, due to the increasing diversity of research in the Faculty of Science at PSU that dealt with plants and related groups such as algae and lichens, more specimens have been added to the herbarium as the voucher specimens for those research worker. Among these new collections, there is the nice collection of lichens from Peninsular Thailand by Assoc. Prof. Feeya Amatavanich and a co-worker. Besides, there are also many more herbarium specimens of macroalgae and also some plant fossil specimens waiting for registration to the collection of the herbarium.

          The PSU herbarium enjoys its responsibilities in serving both teaching and research activities not only for the PSU staff, but also serves as a place for reference collections of plants for various kinds of research in Peninsular Thailand as a whole.

          In 2000, together with the BKF and BK Herbaria, the PSU Herbarium has proudly joined the data base project for Plant Genetic Conservation under the royal patronage of HRH Princess Maha Chakkri.

          At present, the Herbarium, though supported by and situated at the Department of Biology, Fac. of Science, is part of the Prince of Songkla University Natural History Museum. It houses around 15,000 herbarium specimens with the addition of some more spirit, and pollen specimens including plant fossils. It is one of the three international herbaria of the Kingdom beside the Forest Herbarium (BKF) and the Bangkok Herbarium (BK) in Bangkok. Its collection consists mostly of the flora of Peninsular Thailand and the North of the Malay Peninsula.

          From the beginning until 1999 Prof. Puangpen Sirirugsa was the curator-in-charge of the Herbarium. After her retirement in 1999, Dr.Kitichate Sridith was appointed to the position.

Staff

Curator-in-charge: Associate Professor Kitichate Sridith, Dr.rer.nat.

Collaborations and Current research activities

          In 1986, 1988 and 1990, the Herbarium was offered a grant by the Danish Ministry of Education and the University of Aarhus through Prof. Kai Larsen to revise the taxonomy of the families Malpighiaceae, Zingiberaceae and Hypoxidaceae of Thailand at the Herbaria, University of Aarhus and University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

          Since 1986, the staff of the PSU Herbarium has undertaken the revision of selected plant taxa for the Flora of Thailand Project which has its center at the Forest Herbarium (BKF), the Royal Forest Department in Bangkok and the Flora Malesiana Project. These were funded by various sources. The research is conducted not only by the staff but also by the graduate students, who work partly in these research topics for their dissertation or master’s thesis.

          In addition, PSU Herbarium has collaborated with other institutions in various fields, (beside Plant taxonomy) related to Botany, Plant ecology, Ethanobotany etc.

For Example:

• Plant Ecological Coexistence with Nature and Human Being Activities on Coastal Zone in Peninsular Thailand (Funded by Yokohama National University and Japanese Government, Japan). (Co-research between Dr.Kitichate Sridith together with the research student and Prof. Kunio Suzuki, the Dean of Graduate school for Information and Environmental Science, Yokohama National University, Japan and co.).

Opportunities and Volunteers

          PSU Herbarium always seeks collaboration with any other Herbaria and institutions in the World in spite of its budgetary problems. It is open to the public for any kind of research as well as providing general knowledge of Systematic Botany. Volunteers to help the staff run the herbarium activities are encouraged. Herbarium specimen exchanges from any other Herbaria are also welcomed. Contact can be made directly to the curator at the present address.