The great synthesis: Willdenow’s Species plantarum (1797–1810) and his herbarium

The herbarium of Carl Ludwig Willdenow (1765–1812), the most important historical herbarium in Germany, is kept by the Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin. Comprising some 40,000 specimens of vascular plants, it served as the material basis for the fourth and last edition of Linnaeus’s Species plantarum published by Willdenow. Global in scope and arranged in accordance to the Linnaean system, the Willdenow Herbarium includes specimens gathered by many collectors, among them famous figures like Humboldt and Bonpland, the Forsters, Labillardière and Pallas. After its acquisition by Berlin University in 1819 the Willdenow Herbarium was rearranged with great care and catalogued by Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal (1794–1866). Two substantial collections, comprising mostly duplicate material from the Willdenow Herbarium, are kept in the herbaria of Saint Petersburg State University and of Halle-Wittenberg University.