UNLV - The Wesley E. Niles Herbarium - UNLV, Las Vegas, Nv
Posted by: 
Lord Mot
N 36° 06.576 W 115° 08.556
11S E 667180 N 3997702
The herbarium is located in room 305 of Juanita Greer White Hall (WHI), School of Life Sciences on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas
Waymark Code: WMF7P5
Location: Nevada, United States
Date Posted: 09/06/2012
Views: 25
The Wesley E. Niles Herbarium is a collection of dried, pressed plant specimens mounted on archival quality sheets of paper, placed in folders, and stored in cabinets. Each sheet has a label affixed to it, providing the proper scientific name of the plant, the location and habitat where it was collected, the date of the collection, the collector's name, and the collection number. The label information is also electronically recorded, so it is readily retrievable through an up-to-date database. These specimens provide tangible documentation for the occurrence, distribution, and diversity of flowering plants, conifers, and mosses in the southwestern desert regions of the United States, especially the Mojave Desert. The herbarium also serves as a center for research, teaching, and public service, and as a repository of potentially valuable genetic information.
History
The herbarium was founded in 1970 to assist the biologists of a fledgling university (then known as Nevada Southern University) in their studies of the vegetation and floras of both Nevada and the southwestern deserts. The collection represents a relatively recent acquisition of plant specimens. With UNLV being the only four year university located within the Mojave Desert, collectors have centered their activities largely within that geographical area, resulting in a collection that today is the best single representation available of the Mojave Desert flora.
Collection
The herbarium collection consists of approximately 65,000 specimens of vascular plants, and a small but rapidly expanding number of mosses and liverworts. It is one of few herbaria in the country that currently has its entire vascular plant collection accessible through a computerized database (Paradox). Allowing for more effective management and retrieval of collection information, the database is especially useful in addressing the geographical and ecological distribution of plant taxa, evaluating the status and conservation of rare species, and developing local and regional plant checklists and floras. Until the database is available online, researchers can, with the guidance of the curatorial staff, access the computerized collection data when visiting the herbarium.
Herbarium Acronym: UNLV
Institution Association: University
Type of Structure: Not seperate
City: Las Vegas
Special Collections: 65,000 specimens of vascular plants
Parking: N 36° 06.711 W 115° 08.515
Visitation possible: yes
Index Herbariorum Site Link: [Web Link]
Special Projects: Not listed
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