An herbarium is a catalogued collection of dried plant specimens. Generally, herbaria are housed and maintained by large research institutions (such as universities), and their collections are generally for use by scientists and researchers only. Nonetheless, herbaria and their staff can be excellent resources for help in identifying species, for information about plant distributions, or as pointers to other useful specialists or organizations. Additionally, many of the larger herbaria are beginning to put searchable databases of their collections on the World Wide Web. We have tried to include below as many of these as possible.
General Resources
- Plant Systematics and Evolution Links--TAMU Herbarium
- This is a list of herbaria around the world, with an extensive catalog of United States sites.
Northeast
- Harvard University Herbaria
22 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: (617) 495-2365
- Harvard's herbarium collection is open only to researchers. Its library, however, is open to the public, and the staff may be able to answer botany-related questions (especially about preserving specimens). Harvard's Web site links to a number of searchable plant databases.
Support Offered:
- Resource library
- Searchable electronic database of collections (insects and plants) or resources
- Pringle Herbarium
Marsh Life Science Building
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405-0086
Tel: (802) 656.2930
E-mail: lreade@moose.uvm.edu
- Set up mainly for maintaining specimen collections and as a resource for researchers. They will, however, answer telephone and personal inquiries about plant identity and toxic characteristics.
Support Offered:
- Species identification help
South
- Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Inc.
509 Pecan Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102-4060
Tel: (817) 332-4441
E-mail: info@Brit.ORG
- BRIT's herbarium and library are open to the public, and the staff is available to help with botanical questions and plant identification. They have a large educational outreach program that includes lectures series, field trips, teacher workshops, and educational/curriculum materials.
Support Offered:
- Specimen collections open to the public
- Information specialists
- Educational materials
- Enrichment classes/presentations
- Newsletter or journal
- Species identification help
- Resource library
- Classes/workshops for kids
- Professional development programs/workshops
Midwest
- University of Michigan Herbarium
North University Building
1205 North University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1057
Tel: (313) 764-2407
- While the herbarium collection is primarily for use by research scientists, the staff may be able to answer questions about the local flora and offer help with identification.
Support Offered:
- Information specialists
- Searchable electronic database of collections (insects and plants) or resources
California and Hawaii
- University and Jepson Herbaria
University of California
1001 Valley Life Sciences Building, #2465
Berkeley, CA 94720-2465
Tel: (510) 642-2465 or (510) 643-7008
- These two herbaria (the University Herbarium (UC) and Jepson Herbarium (JEPS)) are housed together at the University of California at Berkeley and represent the largest collection of herbarium material west of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the largest at a public university in the United States. The collection is for use by research scientists, not the general public. There are, however, samples on display in the Hall of Life, Valley Life Sciences Building.
Support Offered:
- Searchable electronic database of collections (insects and plants)
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