Headquartered at the Arboretum’s Dana Greenhouse facility and coordinated and photographed by curatorial assistant Julie McIntosh Shapiro, the Seed Herbarium Image Project supports the work of educators and professionals in horticulture and the botanical sciences, particularly in conservation research and management of rare and endangered species.
Collecting the seed of several hundred rare and unusual taxa, Fordham envisioned a unique resource for the identification and propagation of woody plants from around the world.
Each folder is alphabetically maintained including prints of the actual color photographs of the digital electronic files.
The Seed Herbarium Image Project (SHIP) began in 2003 and has completed photography for the Arboretum’s six national collections within the North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC): Acer (Maples), Carya (Hickory), Fagus (Beech), Stewartia, Syringa (Lilacs), and Tsuga (Hemlock).
The Arnold Arboretums’ introductions of Ericaceae include Rhododendron schlippenbachii, R. vaseyi, and R. mucronulatum, all plants of importance to ornamental horticulture.
To date, seeds of the following genera are available through this resource: Abies, Acacia, Acer, Actinidia, Albizia, Alnus, Amorpha, Andromeda, Aralia, Arctostaphylos, Aronia, Berberis, Betula, Broussonetia, Buddleia, Callicarpa, Calycanthus, Carpinus, Carya, Cedrus, Celastrus, Celtis, Cephalanthus, Cercidiphyllum, Ceonothus, Elliottia, Enkianthus, Erica, Fagus, Ilex, Rhododendron, Stewartia, Syringa, Tsuga, Zabelia.