Herbarium Pancicianum

Herbarium Pancicianum is the collection containing plants which Pancic himself collected during his 42-year botanical surveys in Serbia, Srem, Banat, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Hungary as well as during his travels through Italy and Austria.  His herbarium collection (bearing currently his name), which then numbered 80 bunches of dried plants, collected in Banat and Srem, was donated by Josif Pancic to the Great School in Belgrade in 1860. This year is assumed as that of the  establishment of the first Herbarium in Serbia.

During  the course of his 42-year work Pancic dedicated much attention to collecting plants and to enriching  his herbarium collection. What its value was and how much it meant to Pancic, one can learn from the letter sent by him to the Ministry of Education in 1860:

“However, the main result of my  25-year efforts is a great collection of 6,000 different plant species- three fourths of the entire European flora - ? together with duplicates of more than 20,000 specimens which I picked during my travels or got through exchange from Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Greece and southern Russia .... Ever since this collection has been established I dedicated it to the Serbian people and I will cede it to the Serbian Lycée as soon as the Government meets my requirements and refund to me at least in part my costs. If average value is assumed my herbarium is worth about 5,000 francs. Given that this sum is not proportional to my efforts and expenses, and since I consider the supplementing of this collection- which is one of the achievements of my better years- to be my main life task, I will not part with it as long as I live..."

Herbarium Pancicianum, as Josif Pancic’s greatest scientific but also cultural legacy, is under special regime of treatment. Owing to its historical significance, the specimens from this collection may be studied only on the premises of the Herbarium of the Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden “Jevremovac” (BEOU). In addition to opportunities offered for the work in and visits to Pancic’s Herbarium,  from here the quality electronic images  might be exchanged through the Internet as well.