Konrat, M. von, J.J. Engel, L. Briscoe, Y. Rodriguez, M. Niezgoda, A. Sass-Gyarmati, T. Pócs, D. Pinheiro da Costa, D.H. Wagner, M.A.M. Renner, J.E.G. Novoa, J. Larraín, M. Tabua, H. Ranft, J. Lee, D. Glenny, R. Long, G.M. Pitts, N. Evans, R. Salm & Volunteers of the Collections Club. 2021. The herbarium of Rudolf M. Schuster: unlocking over a half a century of botanical exploration

Arctoa (2021) 30: 126–137

doi: 10.15298/arctoa.30.14

 

The esteemed scholar, bryologist, and botanist, Prof. Rudolf M. Schuster, was a prolific collector and author of over 300 scientific publications. His staggering number of collections, reliably estimated at over 80,000 specimens, span almost six decades of fieldwork in over 38 countries. For almost his entire career, over two thirds of R. M. Schuster’s herbarium was largely inaccessible at his private residence. In 2013 his herbarium, in its entirety, was transferred to Field Museum. A detailed overview of the herbarium of R. M. Schuster is provided, including a description of the collections, the geographical extent, and status of curation and accessibility. This is complemented by tabulations and summary data representing the number of liverwort taxa R. M. Schuster described during his career and appended with a complete list of publications associated with liverworts and hornworts. Supplementary material provides a complete list of validly and legitimately published names at all ranks, from species to order, coupled with their original publication. This is the only publication that attempts to centralize and summarize the collections, publications, and exhaustive list of described taxa representing the career of the pre-eminent scientist, Prof. R. M. Schuster.