Botanical time machines: AI is unlocking a treasure trove of data held in herbarium collections

In 1770, after Captain Cook's Endeavour struck the Great Barrier Reef and was held up for repairs, botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected hundreds of plants. One of those pressed plants is among 170,000 specimens in the herbarium at the University of Melbourne. Worldwide, more than 395 million specimens are housed in herbaria. Together they comprise an unparalleled record of Earth's plant and fungal life over time. We wanted to find a better, faster way to tap into this wealth of information.