Mayr 116 (1890 to 1910)
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| Mayr 116 herbarium gathering, South Africa, labelled Umsangu and recorded as medicine and for smoking | |
|---|---|
| Mayr 116 (1890 to 1910) | |
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| Mayr 116, the sheet held by the Bews Herbarium as NU0039265 | |
| At a Glance | |
| Classification | Other |
| Location | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Locality | South Africa |
| Traditional Names | |
| Local Name | Umsangu |
| Collection | |
| Method | Herbarium specimen |
| Sourcing Type | Historical |
| Collector | F. Mayr |
| Specimen | |
| Repository | Bews Herbarium (NU) |
| Catalogue Number | NU0039265 |
| Collector Number | Mayr, F. 116 |
| Scientific Name | Cannabis sativa |
Mayr 116 is a herbarium accession of Cannabis sativa collected in South Africa by F. Mayr. The Bews Herbarium (NU) holds the sheet as NU0039265.[1][2] Its label gives the isiZulu name Umsangu, glosses it Wild hemp, and records the plant as used for thrush, sore eyes and tumours, and for smoking. It is the fullest use note on any South African cannabis sheet found in this sweep.
The printed label
The sheet carries a printed card headed UNIVERSITY OF NATAL, HERBARIUM. Its filled lines read: NAME Cannabis sativa L. (insangu) Wild hemp. For thrush, sore eyes, tumours. Used for smoking; LOCALITY is left blank; COLL. No. 116 DATE 1890 - 1910 ALT blank; COLL. Father Fs. Mayr.[2]
The field tag
A brown field tag is tied to the stem and written in two hands. In pencil: Cannabis sativa Linn. (wild hemp). In ink: Umsangu. / For thrush, sore eyes, tumours. / [U]sed for smoking / No 116.[2]
The name, in two spellings
The printed card's parenthesis is ambiguous in its first letter and reads either insangu or umsangu; the field tag writes Umsangu clearly. Both are forms of the isiZulu name for cannabis, and both are recorded here as each writes it. The Compton Herbarium (NBG) sheet of 1921 gives Insangu, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew sheet of 1857 gives Insango, and Kew's Zululand pipe gives Insangu.[2]
A collection within a collection
The Bews Herbarium describes itself as holding the medicinal plant collections made by Fr. F. Mayr and A.B. Cunningham, so this sheet sits inside a named medicinal-plant collection rather than in the general herbarium. That is why its label carries uses where the rest of the South African corpus carries none.[1]
Specimen and identification
The determination is Cannabis sativa. The database gives no country beyond South Africa, no locality, no coordinate and no altitude. The sheet is stamped POISONED.[1]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Cannabis sativa L., barcode NU0039265". The Bews Virtual Herbarium. Bews Herbarium, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Digitised sheet NU0039265". The Bews Virtual Herbarium. Bews Herbarium, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
