Acquisitions |  Destructive Sampling Policy (pdf) | Loans | Loan Request Form (pdf)

Mission Statement:
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is devoted to the collection, cultivation, study and display of native California plants and to graduate training and research in plant systematics and evolution. Through all its programs, the mission of the Garden is to make significant contributions to the appreciation, enjoyment, conservation, understanding, and thoughtful utilization of our natural heritage.

Collection Policy:
In accordance with its mission statement, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden will develop, assemble, document and maintain preserved botanical collections (herbarium). The purpose of this document is to guide, direct and manage the development of these collections at the Garden.

Legal & Ethical Consideration:
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden's collections, collecting policies, procedures, and activities strive to comply with all relevant international, national, state and local laws, and trustee policies and directives regarding these collections and collecting activities (e.g., CITES, ESA, etc.). All collections and collecting activities will comply and be consistent with the Trustee approved Code of Ethics (1998 revision).

Purpose:
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden's herbarium collections support the Garden's mission and its programs in conservation, education, horticulture and research.

Scope of the Collections:
The RSA herbarium holdings are defined as those specimens belonging to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, and the collections formerly belonging to Pomona College. The herbarium seeks to provide as complete a representation of different vascular plant families and genera as possible. Holdings includes traditional herbarium mounts, fluid-preserved specimens, boxed or bagged cones and fruit, wood, root, and bark samples, and microscopic slides of anatomical and pollen preparations. The geographic coverage of the RSA herbarium is worldwide, however, primary emphasis is given to plants from California, Mexico, western North America, and other world areas of Mediterranean, arid, and semiarid climates.

Acquisition:
The primary goal of the acquisitions policy is to guide development of the RSA herbarium as a representative world collection of vascular plant taxa by the incorporation of specimens acquired through judicious collecting, exchanges, accepted gifts, incorporation of "orphan" collections, and purchases.


The general policies governing herbarium acquisitions are as follows:

A.  RSA holdings are defined as those specimens belonging to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (RSA), and the collections formally donated to the Garden by Pomona College (POM).
B.  Specimens from throughout the world will be accessioned.
C.   Specimens in general must be of high quality, and with adequate labels; otherwise substandard material may be accepted at the discretion of the Curator.
D.  An effort will be made to avoid exact collection number duplications whenever possible.
E.  Geographic duplication is acceptable within reason, as a thorough geographic coverage documents natural variation.
F.  Initiation of new exchange agreements with institutions or individuals will be on a selective basis at the discretion of the Curator of the Herbarium.
G.  Donations of specimens to the herbarium (including incorporation of orphaned herbaria) will be accepted, but must meet established specimen quality criteria.
H.  Unless otherwise stipulated, all gifts become the property of RSA. In all cases, the ultimate disposition of the specimens will be at the discretion of the Curator of the Herbarium. Donors of material should be informed of this policy, and that RSA reserves the right to dispose of any donated specimens at the discretion of the Curator of the Herbarium.
I.  Collections may be acquired on a fee per specimen basis at the discretion of the Curator of the Herbarium.
J.  All financial arrangements surrounding the purchase of specimens should be fully established and documented prior to receiving specimens, and must be in concordance with other established RSABG fiscal policies.
K.  Collections of voucher specimens documenting experimental and other studies will be accepted at the discretion of the Curator of the Herbarium.
L.  RSA will strive to determine that all specimens accessioned were legally collected and will not knowingly accept illegally collected material, unless deposited by a State or Federal Agency with accompanying documentation authorizing RSA to possess the specimens.

Utilization:
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden's herbarium collections are to be used to support the Garden's mission and other appropriate conservation, education, horticulture and research activities. Use and utilization of the Garden's herbarium collections will be consistent with the community norms and standards for each type of collection. In general, destructive sampling will be permitted only to an extent that ensures no significant reduction in the overall quality of the accession/specimen will result from such utilization.

Access:
The content / catalog of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden herbarium collections should be as widely accessible as possible. The Garden's philosophy is to encourage and facilitate access to, and use of, the herbarium collections to the greatest extent possible. Given the sensitive nature and security issues involved with some of these collections, however, access to the collections and their associated records may be limited at the discretion of the Curator of the Herbarium.

Records & Inventory:
Appropriate records will be maintained, and periodic inventories conducted for the herbarium collections. Collection records include (but are not limited to) documentation of provenance, accessions, deaccessions, exchanges, gifts, purchases, loans. The development of a comprehensive, readily accessible catalogue of the herbarium collections is an institutional goal.

Collection Conservation:
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden will strive to fully implement and comply with the Trustee approved Long Range Conservation Plan (2002 revision).

Deaccession:
Accessions may be removed from the collections (deaccessioned) under any of the following conditions:
A.  When they are no longer appropriate to the scope of the herbarium collection.
B.  When they are damaged beyond reasonable repair.
C.  When they are missing (lost, stolen, or destroyed).
D.  When they no longer retain value for their intended purpose.
E.  When they are unnecessary duplicates.
F.  When the legal owner requests return of material on indefinite loan.

All records and data relating to deaccessioned herbarium material will be maintained in perpetuity. Deaccessioning is the responsibility of Curator of the Herbarium.

Deaccessioned material may be disposed of in the following ways:
A.  Deaccessioned material may be exchanged with an individual, corporation, nonprofit or government entity.
B.  Deaccessioned material may be sold. Proceeds from the sale of deaccessioned material and/or collection assets will be used solely to augment the affected collection.
C.  Deaccessioned material may be given to an individual, corporation, nonprofit or government entity.
D.  As a last resort, as in the case of irreparably damaged specimens, deaccessioned herbarium material may be thrown away.

Decisions relating to the disposal of deaccessioned material(s) with a commercial value of up to one hundred dollars is the responsibility of either the program manager or curator of each collection. Disposal of deaccessioned material(s) with a commercial value in excess of one hundred dollars will be made with the consultation and documented approval of the Garden's Executive Director, or Board of Trustees.

Loans:
Loans are the formal, temporary transfer of specimens to outside researchers or institutions. Specimens from the RSA herbarium are available for use on loan to researchers at outside institutions. Similarly, the RSA herbarium is responsible for managing loans from outside institutions which have been sent for use by Garden staff, students, and research associates.

The general policies governing loans of RSA herbarium specimens are as follows:

• Loans are made to institutions, not individuals.
• Institutions receiving loans must be able to ensure their storage facilities are sufficient to provide RSA specimens an appropriate level of care and protection.
• A loan of specimens will be authorized only after receiving a formal request for the material from the director, curator, or collection manager of the herbarium to which the loan will be sent.
• Loans of RSA specimens are made for one year, unless otherwise authorized by the Curator of the Herbarium.
• Extensions of loan periods may be granted at the discretion of the Curator of the herbarium following receipt of formal request from the director, curator, or collection manager of the herbarium to which the loan was be sent.
• Specimens sent on loan may be recalled at any time by the Curator of the Herbarium.
• Institutional need for RSA herbarium specimens supersedes any and all requests for loans to outside institutions.
• Loans may be transferred to another institution at the discretion of the Curator of the Herbarium pending receipt of formal request from both the original and new borrowing institutions.

• Loans are made to institutions, not individuals, therefore requests for loans must be submitted by the Curator of the Herbarium.
• Specimens received on loan must be housed according to the basic standards for all RSA herbarium specimens.
• Loans must be returned promptly upon the expiration of the lending institutions stated loan period, or upon receipt of request for immediate return of the loan.
• All specimens received on loan will be properly annotated prior to return.