Between past, present and future, herbaria serve as genuine archives of biodiversity, representing centuries of scientific research and exploration. Even today, these naturalistic collections represent an essential benchmark to understand the richness, variety and transformations of the planet.

‘This groundbreaking project marks the first coordinated utilisation of Italy’s herbarium collections’, explains Professor Elena Canadelli from the University of Padua, scientific director of the national digitisation project in partnership with the University of Florence. ‘Our aim is to make these collections accessible and known to a broader audience’.

With a funding of 7 million euros, the large-scale digitisation of 4.2 million specimens has commenced, beginning with the Central Italian Herbarium in Florence. The national project is scheduled to be completed by late August 2025.

Recently, the Herbarium of Padua, meticulously organised in numbered containers, began its journey to the botanical section of the Natural History Museum of the University of Florence for digitisation. Using state-of-the-art techniques, specimens will be scanned whilst preserving their condition: herbarium sheets will be placed on rollers, photographed and documented, with biodiversity information from the labels—including collection location, date and scientific nomenclature—carefully recorded.

‘This process makes historical biodiversity data available for contemporary scientific research’, Professor Canadelli notes. ‘These herbarium sheets emerge from their cabinets to reach researchers worldwide’.

The Padua herbarium processing will span approximately two months. Upon completion, the collection will return to the Botanical Garden of Padua, where it will be restored to the temporary-vacated historical cabinets. The collection encompasses dried specimens from the late 18th century to present day, with select items exhibited in the Herbarium Gallery of the Botanical Museum.

Established in 1835 through an initial collection donated by Giuseppe Antonio Bonato, then Garden Prefect, the University of Padua Herbarium has expanded through donations and acquisitions. ‘Today, we estimate the collection holds 700,000 specimens, including plants, fungi, algae and galls, documenting biodiversity across Italy and beyond’, Professor Canadelli concludes. The collection features specimens from distinguished botanists such as Augusto Béguinot, Roberto de Visiani, Adriano Fiori, Achille Forti and Pier Andrea Saccardo, enthusiasts like Wilhelm Pfaff, and notable figures from other fields, including Luigi Tibertelli, known as Filippo de Pisis, who bequeathed his collections to Padua.