DEKALB
(DEK): Herbarium, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University,
DeKalb, Illinois 60115-2861, U.S.A.
Correspondent: Paul D. Sørensen, psorensen@niu.edu
Telephone: ( 815) 753-7848.
Fax: (815) 753-0461.
Website: www.bios.niu.edu/herbarium/
Status: State university.
Foundation: 1962. Number of specimens: 22,000.
Herbarium: Local wild and cultivated vascular plants; representation of world flora;
bryophytes of Illinois and adjacent areas of upper midwestern U.S.
Exchange available: Vascular plants of upper midwestern U.S.
Wanted: Worldwide.
Remarks: Most bryophytes of DEK on long-term loan to MO.
Curator:
PAUL D. SØRENSEN, 1934, psorensen@niu.edu
Telephone: (815) 753-7848
(Arbutus, Ericaceae; Dahlia, Asteraceae; floristics of
upper midwestern U.S.; restoration of tall-grass prairie; biology of Dodecatheon, Primulaceae).
Associated
Staff: Melvin R. Duvall. 1956,
mel-duvall@niu.edu, Telephone:
(815) 753-7806 (paleoherbs; Poaceae; Acoranae; molecular sys-tematics
and evolution).
Associated garden: Northern Illinois University Ecological Park and three research areas: dry sand prairie; bottomlands hardwood forest; recovering mesic and wet mesic grassland.
The herbarium at NIU is an internationally recognized systematic collection, initiated in the 1960s and enlarged significantly during the 1970s to the present. The International Association for Plant Taxonomy has assigned it the code DEK by which it is known and acknowledged worldwide in Index herbariorum (see www.nybg.org/bsci/ih/ih.html).
Holdings presently total about 19,000 specimens of vascular plants plus an additional 8000 bryophytes. A very large portion of the bryophytes (about 6000 specimens) is on permanent loan to MO (Missouri Botanic Garden).
Special
collections include a definitive collection of the genus Dahlia, which contains holotypes and isotypes plus a thoroughly documented array
of hybrids between authenticated wild species. A second important collection
is of Arbutus that also includes type material. The troublesome
genus Agrimonia is more completely documented at DEK than at
any other herbarium in the world.
DEK presently maintains exchange relationships with more than 26 domestic and 6 foreign herbaria. As a consequence, coverage, while emphasizing the flora of Illinois, is worldwide.
Arrangement of the herbarium holdings within the major taxa (pteridophytes, gymnosperms, angiosperms) is alphabetical by family, genus, and species.