Curious Indigo
Indigo: a profound shade of blue sourced from nature’s color palette; A…
Naming the Rainbow
Botany uses Latin to describe and name plants, including the Latin words…
Naming the Rainbow: Caeruleum / Blue
The rarest color in nature, caeruleum (Latin for blue), usually indicates a…
Naming the Rainbow: Viridis / Green
Most plants are green, but only a select few have viridis (Latin…
Naming the Rainbow: Indicum / Indigo
Indigo, the dark bluish-purple color of blue jeans, is a natural dye…
Naming the Rainbow: Rubrum / Red
Rubrum, Latin for red, is often used to indicate firey red flowers…
Naming the Rainbow: Flavum / Yellow
Flavum (Latin for yellow) is often used to indicate yellow flowers, hairs, or…
Naming the Rainbow: Coccineum / Scarlet
A close cousin of the color rubrum, coccineum (Latin for scarlet) is…
Naming the Rainbow: Aurantiaco / Orange
Alas, the Latin name of the sweet orange that makes orange juice…
Naming the Rainbow: Viola / Violet
In an etymological twist, the color violet takes its name from the violet…
Naming the Rainbow: Purpurea / Purple
The deep color purpura, Latin for purple, is commonly used to indicate…
Brown and Beautiful
Whether naturally brown, or turning brown during the preservation steps needed to create herbarium…
Rainbow of Plant Dyes
People have been dyeing their clothing with plants since ancient times. All around…
Autumnal
Grab a warm beverage and your favorite sweater—the colors on these specimens evoke…
The LGBTQ+ Legacy of NYBG: Out of the…
Herbarium specimens are kept in metal cabinets to protect them from damage.…