The oldest specimen in the herbarium at Edinburgh was collected in 1697. The oldest type specimen was collected in 1730. There have been several peaks during the time since then when large numbers of specimens were collected and subsequently became types. The most singular peak was in 1802 and represents the work of Robert Brown as he explored the flora of Australia.

When the types were collected

Graph showing when the types in the herbarium at RBGE were collected

The peak era when type specimens were collected was in the first half of the 20th century when a third of the types were collected. More than 20% of the types were collected in the first 15 years of the 20th century alone. The collection of specimens which become types is still continuing and the herbarium at Edinburgh holds 369 type specimens which were collected since 2000.

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