A vasculum or a botanical box is a stiff container used by botanists to keep field samples viable for transportation. The main purpose of the vasculum is to transport plants without crushing them and by maintaining a cool, humid

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

Construction

Vascula are cylinders typically made from

tinned Tinning is the process of thinly coating sheets of wrought iron or steel with tin, and the resulting product is known as tinplate. The term is also widely used for the different process of coating a metal with solder before soldering. It is mos ...

and sometimes lacquered iron, though wooden examples are known. The box was carried horizontally on a strap so that plant

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

s lie flat and lined with moistened cloth. Traditionally, British and American vascula were somewhat flat and valise-like with a single room, while continental examples were more cylindrical and often longer, sometimes with two separate compartments. Access to the interior is through one (sometimes two) large lids in the side, allowing plants to be put in and taken out without bending or distorting them unnecessarily. This is particularly important with wildflowers, which are often fragile. Some early 20th century specimen are made from sheet aluminium rather than tin, but otherwise follow the 19th century pattern. The exterior is usually left rough, or lacquered green.

History

The roots of the vasculum are lost in time, but may have evolved from the 17th century tin candle-box of similar construction.

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

called it a ''vasculum dillenianum'', from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''vasculum'' – small container and ''dillenianum'', referring to J.J. Dillenius, Linnaeus' friend and colleague at

Oxford Botanic Garden The University of Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain and one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world. The garden was founded in 1621 as a physic garden growing plants for medicinal research. Today it cont ...

. With rise of botany as a scientific field the mid 18th century, the vasculum became an indispensable part of the botanist's equipment. Together with the screw-down plant press, the vasculum was popularized in Britain by naturalist

William Withering William Withering FRS (17 March 1741 – 6 October 1799) was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and first systematic investigator of the bioactivity of digitalis. Withering was born in Wellington, Shropshire, the son of a surg ...

around 1770. The shortened term "vasculum" appears to have become the common name applied to them around 1830. Being a hallmark of field botany, vascula were in common use until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. With post-war emphasis on systematics rather than alpha taxonomy and new species often collected in far-away places, field botany and the use of vascula went into decline. Aluminium vascula are still made and in use, though zipper bags and clear plastic folders are today cheaper and more common in use.

''The Vasculum''

''The Vasculum'' was "An Illustrated Quarterly dealing primarily with the Natural History of Northumberland and Durham and the tracts immediately adjacent," from 1915 to 2015. The newsletter of the Society of Herbarium Curators is named "The Vasculum" since 2006.

References

External links

Darwin's vasculum
at the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

{{Wiktionary, vasculum Botany Containers