Phanerogams section deals with the study and documentation of angiosperms and gymnosperms as well as collection, preparation, identification and housing of herbarium specimens and their arrangement according to the accepted system of classification. Herbarium specimens are collected, pressed, dried and identified plant specimens which includes whole plant (herb) or plant twig/parts (trees, shrubs or climbers) with flowers or fruits, mounted on the herbarium sheets with detailed information containing scientific name, family, collectors, collection date, number and locality along with brief field note about that plant. The place where these herbarium specimens are arranged and preserved according to an accepted system of classification is called as herbarium.
About 1,45,000 herbarium specimens of angiosperms and gymnosperms have been housed and systematically arranged according to Bentham and Hooker’s system of classification. Based upon the record of herbarium specimens preserved in different herbaria of the world, 5,309 flowering plant species are found in Nepal and 4,589 species of flowering plants are housed at KATH. Similarly, out of 28 species of gymnosperms reported from Nepal, 23 species are deposited at KATH. The scientific names and description of plants are always based upon the herbarium specimens or illustrations.
Those herbarium specimens used and cited by the author while describing and naming the plant for first time in the original description (Protologue) are known as Type specimens. Altogether, 114 type specimens of flowering plants have been housed at KATH. Those plant species which are found only in Nepal and not in other parts of the world are endemic to Nepal. A total of 305 species of flowering plants are endemic to Nepal and herbarium specimens of 138 such plants are housed at KATH.
