Paul C. Standley Herbarium
The Zamorano herbarium was founded in 1943, almost at the same time as the institution, by Professor Juvenal Valerio Rodríguez. Originally it was used as a tool for the identification of the collections that Professor Valerio and his students gathered in the practice of botany and taxonomy.
Subsequently with the arrival of botanists, such as Louis O. Williams and Paul Standley, collection was begun in the area around Zamorano and in woodland areas in the central part of Honduras. With the energy of Williams, as well as that of Mr. Antonio Molina R., the collection grew exponentially, soon becoming a noteworthy center in the Central American region.
In 1952, the Herbarium first appeared in Index Herbariorum with 60,000 specimens. At that time it was officially named the EAP Herbarium, which is now internationally renowned. In 1964, it was named the Paul Standley Herbarium in recognition of one of the greatest American botanists of all time, who was a great promoter of flora studies and who dedicated the final years of his life to the herbarium
The Herbarium Today
Today the herbarium is one of the largest – if not the largest – herbariums in Central America, with specimens from Honduras, as well as from the south of Mexico to the north of Colombia and other countries with which it has interchanged specimens.
Now there are almost 300,000 specimens, which represent close to 30% of all the specimens collected in the region. They are all duly mounted and approximately 80% have been identified. It also has the largest and most complete collection of plants from Guatemala and Honduras ever registered, as well as important collections from the other Central American countries.
As a laboratory, it is a valuable tool to know the characteristics of tropical plants, many of which could potentially be considered as raw materials for agroindustry or agro-medicine.
