The herbarium of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUMH) was established in 1981 aiming to study the flora of Khorassan in the east and northeast of Iran. As a local/regional herbarium, it contains about 65000 plant specimens collected mainly from North, South and Razavi Khorassan provinces. The area, with a surface area of 313000 km2, covers almost one-fifth area of the country with diverse types of climates, habitats, and vegetation. Phytogeographically, the area is a transition zone and a corridor connecting different provinces of the Irano-Turanian region and also Hyrcanian montane forests of the Euro-Siberian region. The combination of Irano-Turanian species and presence of a local center of endemism have shaped a very diverse and unique flora in the area. Based on current data, the flora of Khorassan comprises about 2600 species, almost one-third of the flora of Iran, 400 species out of which are endemic or sub-endemic to the area. Establishment of FUMH since 36 years ago, has led to the discovery of 590 new species records for Khorassan, 90 new species records for Iran, as well as 54 plant taxa described as new to the science. Traditional botanists use the botanical collections as merely libraries for floristic and taxonomic studies; however, herbarium specimens are invaluable conservatory of plant material and data with a wide-ranging potential for scientific purposes. Digitization and data-basing of the basic information about the specimens in the herbaria provide an opportunity not only for basic taxonomy but also for biogeography, conservation biology, phenology, ecological niche modeling, and climate change studies. The local and regional herbaria may sometimes be considered as valueless in this case. In this lecture, I describe the unique and diverse contributions of FUMH herbarium to the classical plant taxonomic studies in Iran, as well as modern biological research with emphasis on unique botanical collections and their digitized data.

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