Phytopathological Herbarium of UFRRJ “Verlande Duarte Silveira” - Link of History of Phytopathology in Brazil

Abstract

The “Verlande Duarte Silveira” Phytopathological Herbarium (UFRJ) is considered one of the ten oldest in Brazil, having started its collection in 1916 in the former National School of Agronomy (ENA), now Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). Its collection is of inestimable historical and scientific value because it houses collections of Arsène Puttemans, Heitor Vinícius da Silveira Grillo, André Maublanc, Eugenio Rangel, and Verlande Duarte Silveira. Aware of its importance to the scientific community and the needs of taking action to promote its recovering and restore its functionality, the UFRJ Herbarium has been undergoing improvements such as the implementation of databases to store all information contained in the exsiccates, the replacement of damaged envelopes and the physical organization of its collection, as well as the adoption of standardized procedures. We highlighted the creation of the databases using Microsoft^® Office Access^® Program, because it makes the search for the exsiccates contained in the collection feasible, which is demonstrated with the selection of records containing several genera of phytopathological importance, including the genus Colletotrichum. All these actions aim to optimize its use and facilitate the access to information.

Key words:
biodiversity; collection; Colletotrichum; exsiccates; phytopathogens