The entities of Campanulaceae in drawings of Iconographia Taurinensis (1752-1868) and related documents

This work examined the drawings of the entities referred to Campanulaceae that belong to Iconographia Taurinensis; it is a manuscript, consisting of over 7,400 watercolour plates, which was carried out at the Botanical Garden of the University of Turin between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The study is part of a project to enhance the collection from historical and scientific standpoint. The first step of the project consisted of the digital photography of the whole work and the electronic filing of the polynomial or binomial notes that identify the plant drawings. Then the data collected during the research allowed us to relate the drawings with the activity carried by botanists who worked at the University Garden and with floristic explorations conducted in the second half of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century. The Iconographia drawings also demonstrate the introduction of exotic species in the Garden which are listed in printed “Catalogs” and are documented by exsiccata now preserved in the University Herbarium. The Campanulaceae of the Iconographia have been also checked from systematic and nomenclatural point of view and in total resulted in 81 entities depitched in 147 drawings.