An old collection of plants from Surinam in the Rijksherbarium at Leiden

Some time ago I described in Blumea (5) a plant collection in book-form, collected by Hermann in Ceylon. This collection consists of two large volumes, each containing a number of dried specimens. Besides these two volumes, the Rijksherbarium is in the possession of a third one of the same size and with a similar binding, bearing on its back the title in golden characters on a darker ground: Herb: Viv: Promont. Bonae Spei Vol: I. When I saw the specimens of this volume for the first time, it struck me that they did not show the peculiar type of plants from the Cape region. A somewhat closer examination lead me to the supposition, that I had to do with plants from South America. I was strengthened in that opinion by the fact that many of the vernacular names added to the specimens doubtless bespoke a Surinam origin. Very striking in this respect are the names barcklock, marmadas, rucu, bolotre, cajous, etc. From a comparison with the Ceylon herbarium it became evident that the handwriting of the Surinam collection is exactly identical with that of the Ceylon collection. In my paper on the Ceylon herbarium I have extensively expounded my view, that this collection should be considered as being made by Hermann, and that the handwriting is the same as that in Hermann’s herbarium in the British Museum of Natural History at London.