Tobacco

Aug 3 2023

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


By Angel Tobar

Snap shot of the Rock Garden, circa 1942

Apr 3 2020

Specimen Stories

NYBG's Rock Garden in the spring is full of treasures that have been documented…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

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

An Unrequited Botanical Love Story

Feb 5 2020

Collectors

The love of botany is responsible for both fostering and hindering this…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

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

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

The Lackluster Major William Rich

Aug 5 2019

Collectors

Major William Rich was selected to be the botanist on the U. S.…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Salix loan to Japan

Jul 30 2019

Specimen Stories

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


By Amy Weiss

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

Plants of Sítio Roberto Burle Marx

Jun 4 2019

Collectors

Roberto Burle Marx was an artist, a landscape architect and an early…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

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

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 Torrey

Apr 19 2019

Collectors

John Torrey (1796-1873) is considered one of the most influential American botanists…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

John Muir

Apr 2 2019

Collectors

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


By Amy Weiss

The Cactaceae

Mar 27 2019

Works of Art

The Cactaceae was a publication written by the founder of NYBG, Nathaniel Lord Britton…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Addisonia

Mar 27 2019

Works of Art

Addisonia: Colored Illustrations and Popular Descriptions of Plants was a journal published by…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Augustine Henry

Mar 26 2019

Collectors

Augustine Henry was one of the first and most prolific western botanists to collect in Central China,…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Otto Kuntze 1894 Trip to Southern Africa

Mar 26 2019

Otto Kuntze spent 4 months exploring Southern Africa, arriving in Cape Town,…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Otto Kuntze 1891-1893 Trip through South America

Mar 26 2019

From 1891 to 1893 Otto Kuntze explored South America. He started this…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Kuntze in Rio Paraguay, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Mar 25 2019

In July 1892, Kuntze traveled down the Rio Paraguay, into Mato Grosso,…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Kuntze in Atacama Desert, Chile

Mar 25 2019

Otto Kuntze collected this plant in 1892 in the Atacama Desert of…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Kuntze on Devil's Peak, South Africa

Mar 24 2019

See what Otto Kuntze would have seen from Devil's Peak, South Africa…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

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

George Massee

Mar 21 2019

The fungal herbarium of George E. Massee was acquired by NY in…


By Laura Briscoe

Otto Kuntze 1874-1876 Trip Around the World

Mar 21 2019

Otto Kuntze spent two full years from February 1874 to February 1876 traveling around…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Ellen's Types

Mar 20 2019

Women in Science

Among many of the interesting things Ellen Hutchins collected were collections that…


By Laura Briscoe

Ellen's Illustrations

Mar 20 2019

Works of Art

We know Ellen Hutchins produced hundreds of detailed watercolors of marine algae. Some…


By Laura Briscoe

Kuntze in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Mar 19 2019

Otto Kuntze collected this specimen in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam in March…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Kuntze in Garrison, New York

Mar 19 2019

Otto Kuntze took a boat trip up the Hudson River in 1874…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Kuntze in San Francisco, California

Mar 19 2019

Otto Kuntze collected this plant in San Francisco. He boarded a ship…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Kuntze in Matheran, India

Mar 19 2019

Otto Kuntze spent December 1875 in the Western Ghat mountains of India,…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

Kuntze in Trinidad

Mar 19 2019

Otto Kuntze collected this plant in Trinidad in 1874. 360° view of…


By Nicole Tarnowsky

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

Alice Eastwood Correspondence to Anna Vail (NYBG Librarian)…

Mar 8 2019

San Francisco, Cal., June 20, 1896My dear Miss Vail:    Will you…


By Alice Eastwood, Leanna Feder

Damaged by enemy action

Mar 1 2019

Specimen Stories

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


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

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

George Washington Carver

Feb 5 2019

Collectors

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


By Amy Weiss