THE ROBERT BROWN MATERIAL IN THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM, GLASNEVIN, DUBLIN. Sister Martin Powell Botany Department, University College, Cork, Ireland. Glasra 1: 12-39. Publication date 11. ix. 1976 Introduction by Brian Morley, F.L.S. Present address: Adelaide Botanic Garden, North Terrace, Adelaide, S. Australia. It is not my intention to describe the lives of either Robert Brown (1773-1858) or William Ramsay McNab (1844-1889), but in the context of the following list, extracted from the Glasnevin herbarium by Sister Martin Powell, some brief mention of their lives and work seems appropriate. The nomenclature of the list is based chiefly on G. Bentham, Flora Australiensis (1863-1878), 340 genera and 77 families being accounted for. McNab probably acquired the material now at Glasnevin when Brown's herbarium was split up on the death of John Joseph Bennett in 1876, onetime Keeper of the Botany Department of the British Museum. The main set, comprising 3,900 specimens was retained by the British Museum (BM), a second set went to Kew (K), a third to Edinburgh (E), while the Komarov Institute (LE) pave 2,055 specimens, and Paris (P) about 1,000. Glasnevin (DBN) has 936 specimens, and others are housed in B. BR, C, CW, F, PI, G-DC, LINN, LIV, M, MEL, MO, NSW, NY, P-JU, S, SBT, and W (abbreviations of herbaria after Lanjouw & Stafleu, 1964). The Dublin material has not been previously listed in Lanjouw & Stafleu, 1954, so that this list should help workers trying to locate Brown material. Robert Brown was the third, and greatest, of the botanist-librarians to Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820). Banks, the philanthropist and patron of natural science, has been called "the father of Australia" such was the importance of his work in Australia at an early date. His interests were primarily botanical and horticultural although as Maiden (1909) states, "no subject was too unimportant, no correspondent too humble, to secure his attention. ..". Banks travelled widely, making voyages to New-foundland in 1766, Australia on Cook's First Voyage between 1768 and 1771, and Iceland in 1772. It was Banks who recommended Robert Brown as naturalist on board H.M.S. 'Investigator' under Captain Matthew Flinders on the Australian Voyage (1801-1805). On returning to England, Brown worked on his Australian plant collections, including those listed here, being payed by the Admiralty until 1810. Speaking of the botanical results of Brown's participation on the Flinders expedition Hooker said that they were greater, "not merely than those of any previous voyage, but than those of all similar voyages put together". In a letter from Brown addressed to Banks, dated January 6th, 1810, Brown reveals the scale and importance of his collections and his Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae van-Diemen ...which began its incomplete publication on April 1st-7th 1810. "The number of species of plants is not absolutely ascertain'd, but may be reckon'd 3400, of which about 2800 have been arrang'd and specimens selected for the public collection; upwards of 1700 are new species and comprehend 140 new genera". After the Prodromus ...began publication, Brown entered the service of Banks, replacing Jonas Dryander (1748-1810), until the death of Banks in 1820, when Brown was bequeathed an annuity of £200 and also given the use of the Banksian library, herbarium and collections until his own death. The collections were then to pass to the Trustees of the British Museum, which they did. After Lady Banks died, Brown was able to live in the Banks' house in Soho Square, having been left the lease. Pritzel (1872) and Stafleu (1967) give bibliographies of Brown showing that while he published relatively little, he did publish material of a high quality. He was a pioneer of palynology, discovered Brownian Movement, and later, the cell nucleus. Most of the Brown collections at Glasnevin are stamped with the name of William Ramsay McNab, a Scot who died in Dublin in 1889. McNab was a frequent visitor to Glasnevin, at that time having the title of Scientific Superintendent there, as well as being Professor of Botany at the Royal College of Science, Dublin. According to an obituary in the Gardeners Chronicle for December 7th 1889, p. 670, McNab had been working at Glasnevin the day before he died. McNab was a medical graduate from Edinburgh, where both his father and grandfather had been curators of the Royal Botanic Garden, and later studied in Berlin before going into practice near Dumfries for a time. However, he became Professor of Natural History at the Royal Agriculture College, Cirencester before succeeding W. T. Thiselton-Dyer in 1872 as Professor of Botany at the Royal College of Science. On the death of McNab, his herbarium was "purchased for the Museum" according to Johnson (1891), i.e. the National Museum in Kildare Street. Dublin, where it remained until 1970, when all herbarium collections were moved from the National Museum to Glasnevin. Such is the history of the Brown collections in Ireland since the death of McNab. The Robert Brown collections at Glasnevin will have most interest for Australasian botanists, but they have some practical value for Irish botanists and horticulturalists in containing such ornamentals as Correa, Eucalyptus, Callistemon and Leptospermum which are all found in Irish gardens. The value of the Glasnevin material in terms of isotypes and topotypes now awaits determination. References JOHNSON. T. 1891. The herbarium and botanical collections in the Science and Art Museum. p. 4. Dublin. LANJOUW. J. & STAFLEU. F. A. 1954. Index Herbariorum. Collectors A-D. Regnum Vegetabile 2: 101. Utrecht. LANJOUW. J. & STAFLEU. F. A. 1964. Index Herbariorum. The herbaria of the world. Regnum Vegetabile 31: 205-228. Utrecht. MAIDEN. J. H. 1909. Sir Joseph Banks: the Father of Australia. Sydney. Pritzel. G. A. 1872. Thesaurus Literaturae Botanicae ...Leipzig. STAFLEU. F. A. 1967. Taxonomic Literature. Regnum Vegetabile 52 : 54-56. Utrecht. Acknowledgements Our thanks are due to Dr. I. K. Ferguson of Kew and Dr. J. Jessop of the State Herbarium of South Australia DILLENIACEAE 1 Candollea fasciculata R. Br. King George's Sound, no number. 2 Hibbertia acicularis F. Muell. Port Jackson, no number. 3 Hibbertia billardieri F. Muell. (var.). no locality, no number. 4 Hibbertia billardieri F. Muell. Between Sydney and Sore Head, no number. 5 Hibbertia cistifolia R. Br. North Coast, no number. 6 Hibbertia dentata R. Br. Port Jackson, New South Wales, 4869. 7 Hibbertia diffusa R. Br. George River, Port Jackson, no number. 8 Hibbertia fasciculata R. Br. Port Jackson, no number. 9 Hibbertia fasciculata R. Br. Port Jackson, no number. 10 Hibbertia grossulariaefolia Salisb. King George's Sound, no number. 11 Hibbertia lepidota R. Br. Carpentaria, 4861. 12 Hibbertia linearis R. Br. Port Jackson, no number. 13 Hibbertia oblongata R. Br. Carpentaria, 4860. 13a Hibbertia oblongata R. Br. North Coast, 33. 14 Hibbertia pedunculata R. Br. Port Jackson, New South Wales, 4867. 15 Hibbertia sericea Benth. Memory Cove, no number. 16 Hibbertia stricto R. Br. East Coast, no number. 17 Hibbertia tomentosa R. Br. North Coast, 35. 18 Hibbertia virgata R. Br. Port Jackson, no number. 19 Pachynema complanatum R. Br. North Coast, no number. MAGNOLIACEAE 20 Drimys aromatica F. Muell. no locality, no number. 21 Drimys dipetala F. Muell. Port Jackson, New South Wales, 4919. ANNONACEAE 22 Eupomatia laurina R. Br. Port Jackson, no number. 23 Popowia australis Benth. no locality, no number. 23a Uvaria cylindrica Sch. & Thorn. not listed, 165. MENISPERMACEAE 24 Pleogyne australis Benth. Keppel Bay, Queensland, 4926. 25 Stephania discolor Spreng. no locality, no number, (not listed). CRUCIFERAE 26 Lepidium foliosum Desv. no locality, no number. 27 Lepidium ruderale L. South Coast, no number. 28 Lepidium sp. no locality, no number. 29 Stenopetalum lineare R. Br. Port Philip, no number. CAPPARIDACEAE 30 Capparis canescens Banks. no locality, no number. 31 Capparis corymbifera E. Mey. ex Harvey no locality, 4932. & Sond. 32 Capparis quiniflora DC. North East Coast, Queensland, 4933. 33 Cleome tetrandra Banks. Gulf of Carpentaria, 4936. VIOLACEAE 34 Ionidium heterophyllum Vent. Shoalwater Bay, 4948. 35 Viola hederacea Labill. no locality, 4942. 36 Viola patrinii Ging. in DC. Port Jackson, New South Wales, 4940, (Bentham, Fl. austral. relates this species with V. betonicaefolia Sm.). BIXACEAE 37 Cochlospermum gillmori Benth. no locality, no number, (is this a mistake for C. gillivraei Benth. ?). TREMANDRACEAE 38 Tetratheca ciliata Lindl. Port Philip, no number. 39 Tetratheca ericifolia Sm. Port Jackson, New South Wales, 4955. 40 Tetratheca glandulosa Labill. Derwent River, Tasmania, 4966. 41 Tetratheca juncea Sm. no locality, 4958. 42 Tetratheca juncea Sm. Port Jackson, no number. 43 Tetratheca pilosa Labill. Derwent, no number. 44 Tetratheca pilosa Labill. (var.). no locality, 4965. 45 Tetratheca pilosa Labill. Port Dalrymple, Tasmania, 4962. 46 Tetratheca thymifolia Srn. no locality, 4956. 47 Tetratheca sp. King George's Sound, no number. 48 Tremandra diffusa R. Br. King George's Sound, no number. POLYGALACEAE 49 Comesperma aphyllum R. Br. Islands of North Coast, 4989. 50 Comesperma calymega Labill. Port Dalrymple, no number. 51 Comesperma confertum Labill. no locality, 4983. 52 Comesperma defoliatum F. Muell. Port Jackson, 4975. 53a Comesperma secundum Banks. no locality, 4981. 53 Comesperma secundum Banks. North Coast, no number. 54 Comesperma volubile Labill. Port Jackson, no number. 55 Comesperma sp. (aff. confertum Port Jackson, no number. Labill. ?). 56 Comesperma retusum Labill. Port Jackson, no number. 57 Comesperma retusum Labill. King George's Sound, no number. 58 Polygala chinensis L. no locality, 4972, (not listed). 59 Polygala rhinanthoides Soland. North Coast, no number. 60 Polygala sibirica L. Botany Bay, 4969, (not listed). CARYOPHYLLACEAE 61 Polycarpaea corymbosa Lam. no locality, no number. 62 Polycarpaea synandra F. Muell. no locality, no number.