Iconotheca of Algae

Curator: Dr. KONRAD WOŁOWSKI; Prof. Dr. JADWIGA SIEMIŃSKA

The collection is located in the Department of Algology, in the new building. Created by Ms. Anna Siemińska, contains about 400,710 taxa, including synonyms and bibliography of the cited publications. The collection was initiated in 1959 and is similar to the unique "Fritsch collection of algal drawings" of the Windermere Laboratory in England.

Drawings and photographs (and recently also Latin diagnoses) have been copied from Polish and international literature and placed on separate cards for each taxon within individual systematic groups. These materials are indispensable especially when the microscopic specimens cannot be preserved and stored in the herbaria. Illustrations and diagnoses from the current literature supplement monographs that are used for identification of species for various regional descriptions of floras, ecological diversity, etc. This collection is used for the continuous updating of taxonomy of various species.