The scientific collections
The collections of vascular plants consist of domestic and Nordic samples (the so-called Fennoscandian collection) and samples from the rest of the world (the Extrrafennoscandian collection). These contain
- A total of about 300,000 samples of vascular plants
- The mushroom collections comprise about 80,000 samples
- There are about 30,000 samples in the lichen collections
- There is a total of about 74,000 samples of bryophytes
Collection samples, including type samples, are borrowed for research purposes. Loan requests can be made to staff. Collections are mainly augmented by storing sample material collected in connection with research projects and surveys. The museum accepts sample donations.
The study collections for course Identification of plant species (Kasvien peruslajintuntemus) are located in the Department of Ecology and Genetics. The collections are used for demonstrations and independent study. There are also practice exams in those study collections.
The study collections of Advanced identification of plant species I and II are in the collection room KM129 of the Botanical Museum.
As credit for Advanced identification of plant species II can be studied for example, forest, marsh or mountain plants or lichens and polypores. The storage material of the study collections is in the museum's collection room KM129.
The species information of the museum's collections is shared openly so that it can be used for research, teaching and for societal needs.
The sharing of species information is promoted through the digitization of collection data (stored in a database). Data on domestic vascular plants have been stored in the Kastikka database of the Finnish Museum of Natural History since the 1980s. The digitization and distribution of other collections via the GBIF server was done in a project started in 2011, supported by the Ministry of Education and Science and the University of Oulu, in which the data of more than 30,000 moss samples were stored (approx. 40% of moss collections).
At present, the collection information is stored in the Kotka system coordinated by the Finnish Museum of Natural History, the species of which can be found at Laji.fi.
