A herbarium is a museum of preserved plants and as such serves as a baseline for all plant science. Today, the actual dried specimens are made available by high resolution scans on the Internet, and botanical databases allow all plant specimens in herbaria across the world to be synchronised, greatly facilitating research. DNA analysis has also revolutionised botany.
The Buffelskloof Herbarium was initiated in 1995 and grew to be the largest and most
significant herbarium in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. With over 25 000 specimens, this well-curated and modern herbarium was the largest private herbarium in the country and when John Burrows retired to the Western Cape in 2022, it was decided that all specimens not found on Buffelskloof Nature Reserve would be sent to the C.E. Moss Herbarium (WITS).
The now small, field herbarium, is mostly used byresearchers and students from around South Africa and the world who use Buffelskloof as a field station for their projects.
Situated within the well-preserved and biodiverse Buffelskloof Nature Reserve, the Herbarium provides an ideal facility for plant taxonomic research within an area rich in plant species and varying plant communities and biomes.
Jennie Pretorius came to Buffelskloof in 2017 with her husband, Pieter who is the current Reserve Manager.
Jennie has a National Diploma in Nature Conservation and enjoys assisting researchers in their various projects.