Destructive sampling, the permanent removal of material from a specimen, including for molecular analysis, SEM studies and chemical analyses requires prior permission from the curatorial staff. While every effort will be made to accommodate researchers, decisions concerning destructive sampling will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Researchers should first attempt to obtain material from living collections, field collections, horticultural sources, and to sample from herbarium specimens as a last resort.

Use of material from the NMSU Herbaria is for non-commercial purposes only. Genetic material, its products or resources deriving from it are not transferrable.

As a condition of release for any samples from herbarium material, each applicant should agree to:

1) Submit a formal written request to the NMSU Herbaria Curator. The request must detail the samples required, who requires them, the nature of the research, and an estimate of the amount of material needed. Material may not be removed from specimens without prior consent of the Herbaria Curator.

2) After permission is granted, limited sampling of leaf material, pollen, spores, fungal tissue, bryophyte segments, etc. may be removed from specimens only when there is adequate material available. Packet material should be the first tissue sampled. Care must be taken not to damage the integrity of the specimen.

3) Material may not be removed from type collections, from historical specimens, or from taxa represented in the herbaria with less than three collections, except in rare instances. A maximum of one or two specimens per taxon may be sampled. Specimens can only be sampled once for the same study. Exceptions may be made when there is additional leaf material for DNA studies associated with the specimen.

4) Any publication resulting from the use of plant material from the NMSU herbaria should acknowledge both the NMSU herbaria and each of the collectors that gathered the specimen associated with the publication. Publication(s) whenever appropriate should be prepared jointly with NMSU herbaria staff members or their collaborators. A reprint or copy from any resultant publications should be sent to the NMSU herbaria curator.

5) Each specimen must be annotated indicating the material removed, the nature of the study, the researcher[']s name and institutional affiliation, the date and the identification of the specimen accepted by the researcher. GenBank or other accession numbers must be included.

6) Depending on the nature of the study, the researcher must return a duplicate permanent pollen, spore, anatomical slide, SEM photograph, etc. to the NMSU herbaria. Samples of genetic material must be properly stored and curated and made available to others for further study. The researcher must provide NMSU Herbaria with the location and storage method of any remaining sample. The storage facility must be permanent. The NMSU Herbaria reserves the right to request tissue originally obtained from NMSU herbaria specimens.

7) Acknowledge that the material is provided by the NMSU herbaria without any warranty of any kind whatsoever.

Exceptions may be made to this policy in specific instances, but will only be granted after thorough review by the NMSU curator of the Herbarium.

NMSU herbaria reserves the right to refuse to provide samples from the herbarium material in its care for any reason, at its sole discretion.

The applicant certify that have read and understand the above restrictions and agree that he/she will conform to all of the regulations of the NMSU herbaria. Printed Name _____________________________________________________ Institution name and acronym ________________________________________ Signature ____________________________________ Date ________________

Please provide the following information for each specimen to be sampled in a separate list: Family Name, Taxon Name, Country, Collector & number, Collection Date, Specimen Accession number

Send the completed MTA and specimen list to:

Curator of the Herbaria
New Mexico State University Herbaria (NMC and NMCR)
Biology Annex Bldg.
3080 Williams Avenue
P.O. Box 3AF
Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-0003
U.S.A.
Phone: 575.646.3732 | 575.646.5322
Fax: 575.646.5441