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North Cyprus Herbarium

The Herbarium near Esentepe in North Cyprus is one of the island's must-see attractions. It is an internationally renowned collection of more than 1000 plant specimens, pressed and preserved for botanical reference, which documents the flora and fauna on this part of the island. It is one of the largest such collections in Europe, and boasts among its exhibits twenty endemic plant species found only in North Cyprus. These include the Cyprus Pink, Cyprus Rock Cress and the St. Hilarion Cabbage.

The Collection

There are three areas of interest to visitors inside the Herbarium. The collection of dried and pressed plants; the Spirit Collection, which preserves wholly intact plants from the orchid family in a formaldehyde suspension; and the Line Drawings Collection, which as the name suggests are line drawings of plant species. There are 750 line drawings in the collection, all drawn by Dr Deryck Viney, who founded the North Cyprus Herbarium in 1989.

Visitors are welcome to handle the specimens in the main collection with care. The sheets are indexed and filed in folders within a series of cabinets. Viewing tables are provided so that sheets may be pulled from the folders and examined.

Getting to the North Cyprus Herbarium

The Herbarium is located at the Alevkaya Forest Station on the mountain road between Esentepe and Degirmenlik. You will need Northern Cyprus car hire to access the Herbarium, either using a dirt track road from Kyernia or the tarmaced (lower) road signposted to Alevkaya.

 

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