Editor's Summary
27 March 2008
Open secret
This week's 'Hidden Treasure', the Herbarium Centrale Italicum, now part of the botanical collection of University of Florence, was founded in 1842. That's long before the unification of Italy — in fact the herbarium was one of the early fruits of the unification movement. One of the great collections, with important material from Italy's former colonies in Africa, the collection is still open, in the sense that new material is still being added. And it is open to visitors by appointment.
Books and Arts: Hidden treasures: Florence's botanical collection
Italy's first centralized museum of plants was one of the early flowerings of the unification movement. Alison Abbott reports on an important scientific legacy.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/452414a
