Requesting a Loan

To request a loan from The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at The New York Botanical Garden, please submit a request via email to the Assistant Curator of the Herbarium, Dr. Matthew C. Pace (mpace@nybg.org) for loans including phanerogamic collections, or to the Assistant Director for the Cryptogamic Herbarium, Laura Briscoe (lbriscoe@nybg.org) for loans including cryptogamic collections.

Please include the following in your request:

  1. Type of loan: Physical or electronic loan
  2. Professional affiliation of borrower: Physical loans are made only to herbaria that are listed in Index Herbariorum. Give the name of the person who is going to study the specimens, their status (staff member, student, or visitor) and in the case of graduate students, the name of the supervisor for the student.
  3. Provide a brief description of your research, and the importance of including NY specimens.
  4. List full binomials of all requested taxa (including synonyms; not clade, section, etc.). They should be arranged in one alphabetical sequence irrespective of synonymy. *Restricted taxa: Check for those listed on CITES Appendices or on the Federal Noxious Weeds list. These specimens (incl. parts and products, e.g. DNA extracts) may be used only for scientific study (not for commercial purposes) and may be transported internationally only between institutions registered with CITES.*
  5. Geographic area from which you want specimens

Standard loans are granted for one year; extensions are possible on request. Loans may be recalled at our discretion and must not be transferred to another herbarium without our written permission. Please keep in mind:

  • Don’t borrow more than you can study and annotate.
  • All loans are expected to be annotated with the correct and currently accepted name. Please glue annotations before return.
  • You must have sufficient herbarium cabinet space in which to store loaned specimens safely. It is unacceptable to store specimens in their shipping boxes once those boxes have been opened.

Electronic Loans

If a digital image of a specimen will work for your research, please request an eloan. When the requested specimens have been digitized, the borrower will receive an email notifying them that the specimens are available for viewing or download. If you have requested an eloan and have an eloan number, you can find your specimens via the Electronic Loans search page.

Physical Specimen Loans

Shipping invoices will be sent separately when the loan is mailed. When the loan is received, the contents should be verified, and the acknowledgement copy of the invoice returned immediately.