Stadhuismuseum Zierikzee - Herbarium

The Zierikzee herbarium is one part of a larger garden herbarium from the Leiden Hortus botanicus, created in the first half of the 18th century. The herbarium is now part of the collection of the Stadhuismuseum in Zierikzee (Zeeland), where varying specimens are on permanent exhibition. Following the death of one of its owners in 1838, Diederica Schutter, it was transferred from Utrecht to Oosterland (Zeeland) where her next-of-kin lived and in 2008 it was gifted by her relatives to the museum. Prior to this, in 1739, the herbarium was auctioned off as part of the library of Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), professor of botany and curator of the Leiden botanical garden. Research revealed that the other part, the so-called D’Oignies herbarium, now kept in the collection of Naturalis Biodiversity Center, was in possession of one of its gardeners, Jakob Ligtvoet (1686-1752), who worked with curators Petrus Hotton (1648-1709), Boerhaave and Adriaan van Royen (1704-1779). Cultivating, collecting, drying, mounting and describing the specimens must have been a collaborative effort made by both curator and gardener.

The 348 specimens show a wide variety of exotic, indigenous and medicinal plant species, originating from all over the then known world, but mostly obtained from an extensive international network of botanists. Based on their presence in contemporary Leiden garden catalogues, the vast majority, including many subtropical and a few tropical species - were cultivated in the garden itself (304).

All specimens have been meticulously mounted and lovingly decorated with printed paper vases, bows and ribbons, giving the herbarium its unique appearance. After its sale consecutive owners applied various labels, re-naming the specimens according to current nomenclature or contemporary pharmacopeias, but the original herbarium would only have contained loose tags to identify the plants with. The herbarium is a testimony to the fascination with plants and the desire to study them in the period leading up to the publication of Species plantarum (Linnaeus, 1753).