Index Xylariorum 4
Welcome to Index Xylariorum (Edition 4) - a directory of Institutional Wood Collections from around the World, compiled by Anna Lynch and Peter Gasson at RBG, Kew.
This site provides summary information on each of the world's institutional wood collections (xylaria), as provided by their curators. This gives actual and potential users information on the whereabouts and scope of the individual collections.
Thank you to all wood curators and researchers who responded to our recent request for additional information at the end of 2009. The information has been fully collated and entries updated where possible so that Index Xylariorum 4 is now available.
The information is arranged alphabetically by country in a single document. You can search for individual xylaria in a given country or city, or you can view all the collections within a country by following the links below.
- Search the Index Xylariorum by country links, or the whole document
- Read more about information given for each entry
- Respond to ongoing information request and submit information
- Background to Index Xylariorum
View by country
This site provides summary information on each of the world's institutional wood collections (xylaria), as provided by their curators. Currently the information is arranged alphabetically by country in a single HTML document. You can search for individual xylaria in a given country or city, or you can view all the collections within a country by following the links below.
A: Argentina, Australia, Austria
B: Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil
C: Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic
E: Ecuador
F: France
G: Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guyana
I: Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy
N: Nepal, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria
P: Papua New Guinea, People's Republic of China, Philippines, Portugal
R: Russia
S: South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland
V: Venezuela
Information provided
Each entry in Index Xylariorum gives information on the following:
Institution name and address
date information was provided
curator and staff
size and scope (geographical, taxonomic) of the collection
associated Herbarium collections and vouchers
major special collections
Institute periodicals dealing wholly or partly with woods
wood samples available for research
associated microscope slide collection
duplicates for exchange
other relevant information
details of Institute or collection website
All wood collection abbreviations finish with a lower case 'w'. Where the wood collection has strong links to an Herbarium the assigned abbreviation largely follows those as used in Index Herbariorum (IH), whereas for the others, appropriate abbreviations have been created with efforts made not to use existing IH entries or codes, though previously published abbreviations continue to be used.
Wood collections may seem to be primarily of interest to wood anatomists, other wood scientists, botanists and foresters, but they hold specimens and information applicable to many other fields such as antiques, furniture restoration, forensics, history (many collections in Europe, for example reflect colonial history), conservation and climate change. All collections require good curation, whether they are of living plants or animals, biological specimens or artefacts, and most of all they need to be of tangible value to society and be accessible for use. The aim of this site is to provide actual and potential collection users with information on the whereabouts and scope of a resource that has taken centuries to develop and whose value is often greatly underestimated and overlooked.
Background
The first guide to institutional wood collections was published in 1957 (Tropical Woods 106: 1-29). Ten years later the first Index Xylariorum (IX) was published (Regnum Vegetabile 49: 1-36), and the second edition was in 1978 (Taxon 27: 233-269). More 'recently', in 1988, the third edition was published in IAWA Bulletin 9(3): 203-252 (available as a pdf from www.iawa-website.org). All these editions were compiled by W.L. Stern and largely follow the format of Index Herbariorum (IH).
All wood collection abbreviations finish with a lower case 'w'. Where the wood collection has strong links to an Herbarium the assigned abbreviation largely follows those as used in Index Herbariorum (IH), whereas for the others, appropriate abbreviations have been created with efforts made not to use existing IH entries or codes, though previously published abbreviations continue to be used.
In the intervening two decades since the last edition, there have been many changes to the institutions charged with looking after the collections and their personnel. While much of the information in IX3 is of historical interest, it clearly needed updating and expanding to reflect advances in email communication and information provision via the Internet.
We began contacting xylarium curators and to compile the information presented here (in the Fourth Edition) in 2001. As a result some of the "current" information we provide is out of date. You can tell how recent an entry is by looking at the date at the end of the address. Where we have been unable to obtain current information on a collection, we have assumed it still exists, and labelled it as "outdated".
A request to update entries was made in October 2009 through the IAWA Forum and IAWA Journal notices, along with some direct email contact with curators or researchers. Any updates received by the end of Januray 2010 have been included in the Index Xylariorum Edition 4. There is not a planned timetable for further updates or requests for information, but new information or updates are welcome at any time. Depending on the supply of new information or additional collections this information will be collated periodically and made available on this site.
Ongoing request for information
This website is reliant on accurate and up to date information provided by the xylarium curators. New information or updates are welcome at any time.
Please check the directory and
- If you curate a collection that does not have an entry, please complete and submit the questionnaire.
- If the collection you curate has an entry which needs updating, please complete all respondent details, institute name and country and any fields needing an update, and submit the questionnaire.
- If you are not a curator, but know of a collection that should be included, please email us the contact details of the curator or ask him/her to complete the questionnaire.
On submission of a questionnaire an email is sent to index.xylariorum@kew.org. A copy of submitted information may be available in your personal mailbox in the sent-mail folder. All emails will be dealt with periodically and the information fully collated and made available periodically on these web pages when there is a need. There is no formal timetable of planned updates.
How to cite this publication
Lynch, A.H. & Gasson, P.E. (2010) Index Xylariorum - Edition 4. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet
* (Please replace the year and date/time of accession with appropriate date/time for your use of the system.)
