The
Blatter
Herbarium
is an
internationally
recognized
herbarium
for
Taxonomic
studies
and
allied
branches
in
Botany.
It was
established
in 1906
in St.
Xavier's
College,
Bombay,
by the
Jesuit
Priest -
Rev. Fr.
E.
Blatter.
In 1941,
it was
renamed,
"The
Blatter
Herbarium"
by Rev.
Fr. H.
Santapau,
who
served
as its
director
for many
years.
Fr.
Santapau
later
became
the
Director
of the
Botanical
Survey
of India
at
Calcutta.
He was
awarded
the `Padmashri'
by the
Government
of India
and the
`Birbal
Sahani
Medal'
by the
Indian
Botanical
Society
in 1964
for his
services
to
Indian
botany.
BLAT is
listed
in the
Index
Herbariorum
published
from KEW
- Royal
Botanic
Gardens.
Collections:
BLAT is
the only
herbarium
in India
which
holds
collections
of
Algae,
Fungi,
Bryophytes,
Pteridophytes,
Gymnosperms
and
Flowering
plants.
The
flowering
plant
collections
range
from the
year
1816
onwards,
and over 2,00,000
plant
specimens
including
Grasses,
Sedges,
Orchids,
and
other
Flowering
plants
collected
from
various
parts of
India
such as
Kashmir,
Himalayas,
Darjeeling, Sikkim,
Nepal,
Bhutan,
Rajasthan,
Konkan,
Western
Ghats,
Khandala,
Mahableshwar,
Poona,
Ratnagiri,
Savantwadi,
Goa,
Nasik,
Gujarat,
Karnataka,
Kerala,
Andhra
Pradesh,
Lucknow
and
Bombay
are
housed
in this
Herbarium.
Besides
these,
specimens
from
Sind,
Arabia,
Australia,
Germany,
Switzerland,
other
European
countries,
and
Japan,
obtained
on
exchange
basis,
add to
the bulk
of the
Herbarium.
In
addition
to
these
collections,
more than 200 Type
materials
of the
plants
discovered
as new
species
are
maintained
in this
herbarium.
All
these
form
reference
materials
for
research
and
other
studies.
Facilities
in the
Herbarium:
Attached
to the
Herbarium,
there is
a
library
containing
literature
on
Taxonomy
and
related
subjects,
dating
from the
16th
century
- "Coloquios
dos
Simples
e drogas
he da
India"
by
Garcia
D'Orta,
the
first
book
printed
in India
(1563),
The
Hortus
Malabaricus
by Van
Rheede
(1678) -
to the
20th
century,
and a
number
of
International
Journals
such as
Taxon,
Kew
Bulletin,
Candollea,
and
Indian
Journals
such as
Indian
Forester,
Bulletin
of
Botanical
Survey
of India
and
Journal
of the
Bombay
Natural
History
Society.
Collections
of wood
samples,
seeds,
fruits,
and
other
natural
products
from
plants
having
medicinal
properties
are
preserved
in a
museum
attached
to the
Herbarium.
The
museum
also
holds
pickled
specimens
of
Algae,
Fungi,
and
Lichens.
Usage
of
Herbarium:
The
Blatter
Herbarium
is
constantly
used by
various
categories
of
people,
such as
Scientists,
Naturalists,
Environmentalists,
Pharmacists,
Medical
doctors,
Journalists,
Teachers,
Tourist-guides
and
students
of
various
subjects
from
schools
and
colleges
from
India
and
abroad
for
their
studies
and
research.
People
from
various
organizations
such as
Forestry,
Educational
Institutions,
Natural
History,
Oceanography,
and
Pharmaceuticals
consult
the
staff of
the
Blatter
Herbarium
for
guidance
and
assistance
pertaining
to the
identification
of
plants,
and
plant
products,
and the
distribution
and
availability
of
plants
in
various
localities,
uses of
plants,
and
other
related
matters.
Achievements
of the
Herbarium
:
About
300
scientific
articles
and a
number
of
scientific
books
such as
The
Flora of
Aden,
Arabia;
Beautiful
Flowers
of
Kashmir;
The
Bombay
Grasses;
Palms of
Asia;
Orchids
of
Bombay;
Medicinal
and
Poisonous
plants
of
India;
Flora of Khandala;
Acanthaceae
of
Bombay,
and
Trees of
Bombay
are some
of the
contributions
of Rev.
Fr. E.
Blatter
and Rev.
Fr. H.
Santapau,
the
pioneer
scholars
in
Taxonomy
of this
institution.
More
than 50
people
have
received
their
M.Sc.
and
Ph.D.
degrees
from
this
institution.
Some
of the
eminent
scholars
such as:
-
J.K.
Maheshwari
(Flora
of
Delhi)
-
Fr. C.
Saldanha
(Flora
of
Hassan
District,
Karnataka)
-
Rev.Fr.
L.M.
Cramer
(The
Flora
of
Ceylon)
-
Dr.
S.K.
Jain,
Ex-Director,
Botanical
Survey
of
India,
Calcutta
-
Dr.
T.N.
Khoshoo,
Ex-Secretary,
the
Department
of Environment,
New
Delhi,
-
Prof.
G.L.
Shah
(Flora
of
Gujarat)
-
Dr.
A.R.
Daruwalla
(Gamopetalous
Flora
of
National
Park,
Borivli,
and
Monograph
on the
genus
Blumea)
-
M.R.
Almeida
(Pteridophytes
of
Maharashtra
and
Flora
of
Mahableshwar)
-
Dr.
S.M.
Almeida,
`The
Flora
of
Savantwadi
- the
sector
of
Western
Ghats'
in
1990,
The
Department
has
undertaken
a number
of
projects
at the
national
level of
which
some of
the
latest
projects
are :-
-
Survey
of
Medicinally
and
Economically
Important
plants
of
Western
Maharashtra.
-
Flora
of
Ratnagiri
District.
-
Ethnobiological
studies
on
Tribals
of Goa.
-
Trees
of
Bombay.
Nature
Education
Field
Trips
