Volcano Museum / e-ReColNat Infrastructure

The Volcano Museum of Aurillac, located in a wing of the Saint-Etienne castle, houses Geological (paleobotany, volcanic rocks, local ores, local fauna of fossilized mammals, regional and national ores...) Zoological, and Botanical collections.

Housing 15 herbaria dating back to the 19th century and of the first half of the 20th century, the Volcano Museum has recently renewed the computerization of its botanical collections. Four herbaria were computerized on SN-Base before the 2000s (herbarium of Jouve, Baudel, Sennen, Dr Pradhenes). Data conversion on Sonnerat will be operated soon. The main herbarium of the collection was just computerized on Sonnerat.

The main herbarium of the collection is the herbarium of Eugene Jordan de Puyfol (1827-1891):

Eugene Jordan de Puyfol (1827-1891) was born in Dole in the Jura, and was fascinated with botany since his childhood. He was encouraged and advised in his research by a family member, Alexis Jordan, who connected him with many botanists and collectors. He was thus able to compose a rich collection of plants. Meanwhile, he himself herborized in the Jura, in the Lyon area, and the Massif Central, especially in the Cantal department. He decided to settle there, after his marriage in Raulhac, in his family property of Courbelimagne. He was appointed as magistrate of Justice of the Peace in Mur-de-Barrez in Aveyron, and was later mayor of Raulhac.

This herbarium, counts 12,606 sheets, carefully classified into 100 presses. Each sheet is thoroughly informed: precise location, altitude, and soil type.

At the request of Eugene Jordan de Puyol’s daughter, Father Coste, completed a precise classification of this herbarium.

Eugene Jordan de Puyfol was commissioned by Jean-Baptiste Rames (1832-1894) to make another herbarium. This herbarium is also kept in Aurillac, is being studied, and will be computerized and digitized soon:

This is a herbarium of a more modest size - 986 sheets - on the flora of the region. Made between 1850 and 1872, it is in a remarkable state of preservation. Jean-Baptiste Rames, geologist pharmacist, and author of the first theories on the formation of the Cantal volcano, had wished this herbarium would become the basis for his own reference collection.

Alongside computerization, research work on localities and collectors is underway.

Herbaria are available for consultation at the Volcano Museum.

Contacts
Marie-Pierre Hauquin : marie-pierre.hauquin@aurillac.fr
Emmanuelle Huet : emmanuelle.huet@aurillac.fr