Description of the Herbarium 
There are some 10,800 specimens in the main Sullivant herbarium and 
over 4000 in special collections not incorporated(Adding over 4000 in 
exsiccata sets which belonged to Sullivant but were not issued by him, the 
total collection, excluding hepatics, is estimated at 18,800.) On page iii 
of this introduction will be found a list of the special collections. It 
is important to recognize that many bibliographic types of Sullivant are 
in these separate collections and therefore do not appear in this index. 
The only one of Sullivant T s own exsiccatae in his main herbarium is Musci 
Alleghanienses . 
Mention of some of the larger foreign,collections in the herbarium will 
illustrate its world-wide content. W. P. Schimper sent specimens from 1844 v 
to at least 1867, a total of over 750 species and varieties, and a vast quan¬ 
tity of duplicates. Some of the latter were distributed from the Farlow 
herbarium and others are still being processed for exchange. On the labels 
are Schimper ? s published names, manuscript names cited in synonymy, and manu¬ 
script names not taken up. 
Over 200 species of South American mosses came from Richard Spruce in 
1869. Some are the early version of Musci Amazonici et Andini , with Spruce T s, 
not Mitten 1 s, names. Others are unnamed but numbered as in Mitten 1 s Musci 
Indiae Orientalis . Still others are without numbers or names. James 
attempted to process these and many now in the herbarium are labelled by him. 
Other South American specimens are among the 450 species received from Ernst 
Hampe in the 1860s. 
There is an irregular but interesting set of some 300 species of "Antarc¬ 
tic" mosses received from J. D. Hooker in 1860. Unlike the standard sets, 
about a third of the labels bear the names of Gunn, Colenso, Oldfield, and 
others as collectors. The 450 species of mosses from Hooker and Thomson f s 
Herbarium Indiae Orientalis have been separated from the main herbarium, as 
have the 750 mosses of the United States Exploring Expeditions. Other 
collections from notable world voyages were acquired from Montague, whom 
Sullivant called "a prompt, liberal & generous correspondent." Generous also 
were Dozy, Molkenboer, and Blume, who sent some 250 species from Java. There 
are 58 specimens received from Schwaegrichen in 1842, and 19 ?l types" of Carl 
Muller, as well as other duplicates from his herbarium. 
A notable feature of the herbarium is the wealth of drawings and notes. 
It is probably safe to say that Sullivant made sketches of every species new 
to him. Many are finished drawings and some of these are initialed by August 
Schrader, a draughtsman employed full time by Sullivant from 1856. Many of 
the notes are by Lesquereux, who was associated with Sullivant from 1848. 
It has amused the compilers of this index to come upon common American 
specimens which Sullivant, when he was learning to identify mosses, sent 
simultaneously to several European bryologists. In one lot of 50 specimens 
named by Schwaegrichen, Montague, and Wilson, these experts disagreed on the 
correct names of 20. 
Martha Abbott participated with me in the rehabilitation of the herbarium 
and the preparation of the indexes. Carolyn Hesterberg was the expert typist. 
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11 
Geneva Sayre 
Farlow Herbarium 
December, 1982 
