Plymouth Marine Biological Association MBA

The MBA seaweed herbarium was initially assembled by Dr Mary Parke in the 1940s from various collections at the MBA and from her own material. This has been added to steadily up to the mid-1980s by various phycologists either working at, or visiting, the MBA. The earliest material in the collection is from the 1830s from a number of collectors but most of the material collected since 1950 has been added by Dr Parke or Dr Gerald Boalch.

There are several local collections which are bound up in books. These are: Algae Danmonienses by Mary Wyatt (236 specimens in 5 volumes), Agarum Fasciculi by John Cocks (2 copies; 178 specimens mainly from the Plymouth area), Plymouth Seaweeds by George Carter Bignell (85 specimens), 2 books of specimens, not named or dated and with no indication of location or collector, a book of pressed seaweeds from Torquay dated 1837, not all named and with no indication of collector, and a collection from the Sidmouth area all named and dated 1837 and collected by Miss Jackson. 

In 2013, the catalogue of the MBA Herbarium was digitised and some specimens photographed thanks to funding from the Vodafone Foundation "World of Difference" programme. More information.