Journey of the US Exploring Expedition (1838-1842)

Mar 18 2019

Expeditions

One of the earliest and most impactful scientific expeditions led by the…


By Charles J. Zimmerman

Newspaper time capsule: B. Maguire 23559

Mar 22 2019

Specimen Stories

A trip to the field isn't always necessary to describe a new…


By Amy Weiss

Damaged by enemy action

Mar 1 2019

Specimen Stories

Herbarium specimens are windows into the past and can help us answer…


By Amy Weiss

J. K. Small's exploration in Southern Florida, 1915

Apr 21 2019

Expeditions

John Kunkel Small, botanist and herbarium curator at the the New York Botanical…


By Amy Weiss

J. K. Small and the changing Florida landscape

Apr 21 2019

People had been living in Florida for centuries, but there is little…


By Amy Weiss

John Kunkel Small

Apr 21 2019

Collectors

John Kunkel Small (1869-1938) was a taxonomist and botanical explorer, who specialized…


By Amy Weiss

John Muir

Apr 2 2019

Collectors

John Muir (1838–1914) was an influential naturalist and conservationist, and co-founder of the…


By Amy Weiss

Typical: Christmas in the clouds

Dec 24 2019

Collectors

Bassett Maguire (1904–1991), a botanist who spent the majority of his career…


By Amy Weiss

Salix loan to Japan

Jul 30 2019

Specimen Stories

Botany is a collaborative science that relies on sharing data and specimens…


By Amy Weiss

George Washington Carver

Feb 5 2019

Collectors

George Washington Carver (1860s–1943) was an inventor, teacher, botanist, and mycologist (a…


By Amy Weiss

Women's Scientific Empowerment

Feb 15 2019

Women in Science

Natural history was immensely popular in the Victorian era, but women were…


By Amy Weiss

Good grief, Charles Geyer

Mar 1 2019

Collectors

Charles (Karl) A. Geyer was a pioneer botanical collector of the Northwestern…


By Amy Weiss

For the duration: Segregation and annotation of type…

Apr 25 2025

This is the third part of  For the Duration. To start at…


By Amy Weiss

For the duration: Beyond NYBG, the safekeeping of…

Apr 25 2025

This is the second part of  For the Duration. To read about…


By Amy Weiss

For the duration: The safekeeping of American herbaria…

Apr 25 2025

Specimen Stories

The bombing of the military complex at Pearl Harbor, on December 7,…


By Amy Weiss

Exploring the Bahamas with Lewis Jones Knight Brace

Sep 19 2019

CollectorsExpeditions

The Bahamas suffered its worst natural disaster recently as Hurricane Dorian, a…


By Matthew C. Pace

John Torrey’s Trip to California and Colorado, 1872

Jun 28 2019

Expeditions

In July of 1872, John Torrey and his daughter Margaret departed on…


By Sarah Dutton

The Biltmore Herbarium: Botany and America’s Largest Home

May 31 2019

ExpeditionsSpecimen Stories

Biltmore, a Gilded Era mansion in Asheville, North Carolina, is America’s largest…


By McKenna Coyle

The Cotton Plant and Enslaved Labor

Feb 20 2020

The Cotton Plant (Gossypium) stood at the center of the most exploitative…


By Rashad Bell, Nuala Caomhanach

The Peanut Plant and a Black Genius

Feb 20 2020

“One reason I never patent my products is that if I did,…


By Rashad Bell, Nuala Caomhanach

The Rice Plant and Black Knowledge

Feb 20 2020

“The millions of Africans who were dragged to the New World were…


By Rashad Bell, Nuala Caomhanach

The Peacock Flower and Reproductive Resistance

Feb 20 2020

“Indians, who are not well treated in their servitude by the Dutch,…


By Rashad Bell, Nuala Caomhanach

The Vanilla Plant and Edmond

Feb 20 2020

Vanilla planifolia is the only orchid of significant economic importance as an…


By Rashad Bell, Nuala Caomhanach

Tobacco

Aug 3 2023

The history of tobacco and the people who cultivated the plant have…


By Angel Tobar

Plants of the Bronx River

Mar 18 2025

For at least 5,000 years, people have called The Bronx home, with…


By Génesis Abreu, Laura Briscoe

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