Asteraceae: Hieracium

The genus Hieracium (hawkweed) in Belgium:
This project aims to document the Belgian specimens of the genus Hieracium (hawkweed), a group belonging to the family Asteraceae (composites), one of the largest plant families. Hieracium species are notoriously difficult to identify, especially within the subgenus Pilosella, because many new taxa arise by hybridization. In Belgium this subgenus contains 8 species and 4 hybrid taxa. Their distribution and occurrence is poorly known so far; the combination of this project and a systematic determination of the specimens will remedy this.

The Belgian Herbarium:
The Botanic Garden Meise holds the largest herbarium collection of Belgian plant specimens. Each of these herbarium specimens has a label with valuable information such as the plant’s identification, and when, where, and who collected the plant. These specimens can be used in many domains of research, such as conservation, evolution, ecology and systematics. These data help us to better understand the plants of Belgium, their history and that of people who collected them. There are about 200,000 specimens in the Belgian Herbarium of the Botanic Garden Meise and we want to document them all! These data will then be made available online at www.botanicalcollections.be.

Keywords (Latin):
Belgium, Asteraceae, Herbae, Hortus Botanicus Meise, Botanica.