The type specimens held at RBGE were included in an analysis of plant collectors by Bebber et al. (2012) which showed that 50% of the type specimens were collected by only 2% of the collectors. These collectors were considered to be the “Big Hitters”. The RBGE data alone show an even more marked result – 50% of the type specimens were collected by 1.35% of the collectors. The top ten collectors between them account for 28% of the type specimens in red folders.

Who collected the types at RBGE

Graph showing the top ten collectors of types in the herbarium at RBGE

 

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