Australian biosecurity officials have destroyed historically significant plant samples from 19th-century France and damaged the reputation of Australian researchers, the head of the peak herbaria body has said.

In two separate incidents, quarantine officials have incinerated specimens sent to Australian research facilities from overseas.

One collection dated back to the mid-1800s and was sent to the Queensland herbarium by the Paris Natural History Museum in March.

“Quarantine basically said the paperwork wasn’t compliant and their response was to destroy them before another solution could be made,” the chairwoman of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, Prof Michelle Waycott, said.

“What usually happens is we have a discussion – whether it’s letters or a phone call – but in this case we seem to have missed a step somewhere.”

Waycott told Guardian Australia it was the second such incident and, after a sample from a Christchurch facility sent to Canberra was destroyed, New Zealand enacted a blanket ban on sending any further specimen to Australia.

“It means taxonomy on materials in New Zealand can’t go ahead,” she said. “That’s a huge problem for us but I understand it. I wouldn’t want to send stuff overseas if it’s going to get destroyed either.”

Waycott said international research depended on sample sharing around the globe and it was how we learned whether there had been new discoveries made.

“We can find new species formerly not known to science – many of those are hidden away until a researcher does some work on them,” she said.

“When you have specimens that are very old or hard to get to – mountaintops in Papua New Guinea, or found 150 years ago on the north Australian coastline – they sometimes represent material that may not exist anymore. That’s why it’s so devastating.”

Waycott said the two incidents had put Australia researchers in a difficult position and there was now a question mark for anyone considering sending them material.

“Australia’s quarantine rules, which are very important, are strict and the herbarium network is very careful – most of our institutions have quarantine status,” she said. “We’re world leaders and we should be supported in this.”

The Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources is conducting a review into the incidents.

A spokesman said the French samples were marked with a value of $2 and there was no prior notification of the package’s arrival or significance.

An email mix-up has been blamed for a communication failure which saw further documentation not received by officials.

Biosecurity officials held the samples for more than a month longer than they were required once problems with the paperwork were identified but conceded they were of “significant value as a botanical reference collection” and should not have been destroyed.

“Destruction of the specimens should not have proceeded while communication between the department and the intended recipient was ongoing,” the department said.

“This is a deeply regrettable occurrence, but it does highlight the importance of the shared responsibility of Australia’s biosecurity system, and the need for adherence to import conditions.”

The department was unaware of the New Zealand specimen destruction but was investigating “as a matter or priority”.