“It would take eight people 10 years to do what this system now does in about a year,” says Dr Jana Leong-Skornickova, keeper of the herbarium.
Between October and November, I get to try the technology and explore the herbarium, which is located near the southern side of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
“Some people think it’s a plant or herbal shop,” Dr Leong-Skornickova (below) says with a smile. “We are the guardians of plant knowledge.”
The Singapore Herbarium is a specialised research facility that safeguards around 800,000 preserved specimens of plants and fungi. The specimens are being scanned as part of the herbarium’s largest digitalisation effort.
This image of Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim, formerly known as Vanda Miss Joaquim, is one of around 50 I scan at the herbarium.
It is the national flower of Singapore.
The first recorded orchid hybrid from Singapore, it was named after horticulturist Agnes Joaquim, who bred the flower.
It was chosen as the Republic’s national flower because of its vibrant colour, resilience and ability to bloom all year round.
Stepping inside the herbarium, I am greeted by dozens of tall metal cabinets. Their shelves are stacked with plastic boxes holding plant specimens collected from across South-east Asia, New Guinea, East Asia, the South-west Pacific and beyond.
Within the herbarium is the Rare Collection Room for type specimens, or the official representatives of a species that researchers consult when describing plant species new to science.
A type specimen serves as the original record of a plant’s name. Researchers must return to it, much like checking against someone’s fingerprint, to trace and confirm a plant’s identity.
So, what determines whether a plant is a tomato or a potato? The answer lies in the type specimen.
“The Singapore Herbarium was built by many generations of people in the past for the future of people, because our lives depend on plants,” says Dr Leong-Skornickova.
“We cannot live without plants: They are food, medicine — almost everything we use comes from plants in one way or another. Even the steak we eat comes from plants. No grass, no cow; no cow, no steak.”
Identifying plants is also essential for documenting our biodiversity, and for research on food security, climate change and conservation.
Hospitals occasionally turn to the herbarium for guidance on plants eaten by patients who fall ill after misidentifying inedible plants as edible ones. The herbarium helps identify the plant, allowing doctors to provide the right treatment.
“I will show you a plant (type) specimen dear to my heart,” says Dr Leong-Skornickova, holding up a Zingiber singapurense Skornick, or Singapore ginger.
In 2014, Dr Leong-Skornickova confirmed that the Singapore ginger exists only here; it is now critically endangered.
Named by Dr Leong-Skornickova, it is one of around 100 plant species she has named in South-east Asia.
“Now, whenever people collect a plant that looks like a Singapore ginger and they are not sure, they come here to see what the true-blue Singapore ginger looks like,” she says.
The label (below) is the most important part of the specimen, says Dr Leong-Skornickova. “A specimen without a label is not a specimen,” she adds, “because the label tells you where and when the specimen was collected. Everything is tied to the label. Without it, the plant itself is not really valuable.”
To make the role of a herbarium easier to understand, Dr Leong-Skornickova asks me if I drink coffee.
She explains that if a particular coffee bean variety is threatened by climate change or disease, researchers can use herbarium records to identify its closest relatives and origin.
Locally, as nature continues to blend with urban environments, the National Parks Board uses herbarium data to study invasive species and their impact on biodiversity.
The current digitisation set-up involves a box enclosure with a high-resolution camera mounted above. The process is much slower than the conveyor belt imaging system.
To prepare for scanning on the conveyor belt, sheets with QR codes are placed on 22,000 “SING Boxes”, or specially designed plastic containers (below). These codes help with identifying the location of the specimens.
Founded in 1875 by the Botanic Gardens’ then superintendent Henry James Murton, the Singapore Herbarium was the first of its kind in British Malaya.
It houses specimens dating back 230 years, including cotton, jasmine, blue pea, indigo and tamarind.
This specimen of Arabian jasmine (Jasminum sambac) is one of the oldest specimens in the Singapore Herbarium’s collections, dating back to 1790.
The species is widely cultivated for its sweetly fragrant flowers.
It was collected from Tamil Nadu, India.
It is the national flower of the Philippines.
The herbarium comprises specimens collected in South-east and South Asia, with about 80 per cent originating from Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and the broader Malesia region.
The remainder includes specimens from Papuasia, Indochina, the Indian sub-continent, temperate Asia and beyond.
Specimens are collected in Singapore as well as on expeditions abroad.
During field collection, a staff member will be tasked with gathering a specimen, while another will take notes for labelling and storing the specimen.
Back at the herbarium, the specimens are trimmed, labelled and pressed together in a plant press. The plant press can hold multiple layers of plants, which are secured with a strap. The press will then be placed in an oven for drying.
Once dried, the plants will be mounted on acid-free paper, labelled and secured with archival tape.
Dr Leong-Skornickova is excited for the future. When digitisation is completed by 2027, the high-resolution images and data will form the largest online database of plant specimens in South-east Asia.
With the information digitised and paired with artificial intelligence, researchers can trawl through the data to study everything from biodiversity, ecology and climate change to shifts in flowering patterns, species distribution and food security.
The herbarium and the neighbouring Library of Botany and Horticulture will expand by about 40 per cent, creating space for 300,000 more specimens. With around 5,000 new specimens collected annually, this expansion secures capacity for the next 50 years.
Even after 150 years, discoveries continue. “It’s mind-boggling,” says Dr Leong-Skornickova. “It shows just how rich our tropical forests and biodiversity truly are.”
Seeing how delicate the older plant specimens are, it goes to show how digitisation can preserve fragile specimens.
In some cases, scientists do not even need to see the physical specimens, thereby reducing handling. There have also been cases where herbaria have lost specimens while sending them overseas.
The database will make plant information accessible to researchers from developing countries who may not be able to visit Singapore.
Just like photojournalists create material to study in the future, scanning plant specimens allows researchers to study plants in new ways. High-resolution images reveal intricate details, offering fresh ways to appreciate nature.
Kock’s Bauhinia (Phanera kockiana) is a woody vine with bright orange and yellow flowers.
It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant.
The design of the Tanglin Gate of the Singapore Botanic Gardens features motifs inspired by this vine and its flowers.
Beyond Singapore, the herbarium’s data contributes to global plant studies. “Singapore is small, but what happens in neighbouring countries affects us and our food resources. Four thousand herbaria around the world hold all the knowledge we have about plants on this planet,” says Dr Leong-Skornickova.
CRUCIAL MISSION
“Human life depends on plants. If we don’t protect plants, we die. Plants can be used only when they have an unambiguous name and when we can identify them correctly.”
People interested in donating to the digitalisation effort can adopt plant specimens or plant families, with the Gardens hoping to raise $4.5 million.
Donors who contribute at least $1,000 through a fund-raising campaign named “Herbarium in your Pocket” will receive a limited-edition collectible, with a preserved specimen from the iconic tembusu tree featured on Singapore’s $5 note.
Staff collect and mount each specimen by hand before labelling it with a serialised collection number printed with ink drawn from the same tree.
Visitors can watch the scanning from a viewing gallery, Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 5pm, excluding public holidays. The accompanying exhibition, Pressed In Pixels: Digitalising The Singapore Herbarium, runs until August 2026.
The digital images of the plant specimens were acquired with Picturae’s conveyor belt and automated specimen scanning technology.
Special thanks to the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Picturae for access to this equipment and for their sharing and technical support. The team includes Dr Jana Leong-Skornickova, Mr Ethan Eng and Dr Louise Neo from the Singapore Herbarium, as well as Mr Victor Shields from Picturae.
For more information, go to https://www.go.gov.sg/pressed-in-pixels-digitalising-the-sing-herbarium