Discovering a Darwin Collection
Cabinet of CuriositiesSpecimen Stories
In the museum world, there's a sort of joke that you never…
Mushroom Paintings
When mycologists collect mushrooms or other fungal fruiting bodies, it's important to…
Jean Baptiste François Bulliard
Jean Baptiste François Bulliard was French physician and botanist, especially interested in fungi.…
Pertusaria andersoniae
Specimen StoriesWomen in Science
Some of our herbarium specimens are of incredibly rare species. This is…
4 Millionth Specimen
With 7,800,000 specimens in our herbarium, reaching 4,000,000 specimens catalogued in our…
John Cage
Mostly remembered for his experimental music compositions, John Cage was also a…
Royal Collector
Cabinet of CuriositiesCollectors
Prince Henri of Orléans, a French royal, collected this parasitic fungi in Tibet while…
Lace Algae
Many of the red algae are incredibly delicate and beautiful, as exemplified…
Dolly's Lichen
NYBG lichen curator James Lendemer and then-PhD student Jessi Allen named this…
Truffle
Specimen StoriesFocus on Science
Truffles are fruiting bodies of Tuber fungi that grow underground. The fungi…
Violetta White
Violetta Susan Elizabeth White Delafield (1875–1949) was a promising young mycologist at the…
A Horse, of Course
Collecting plants and algae was sometimes an artistic hobby, with dried or…
Octopodotus stupendus
Octopodotus from octopus and the Greek suffix–otus, indicating resemblance, because of the…
Arthonia stevensoniana
Arthonia etymology unknown stevensoniana from Stevenson, honoring Robert Louis Stevenson, author of…
Witches!
Cabinet of CuriositiesWhat's in a name?
Don't be too scared by these witches - just some friendly plants…
Ellen's Types
Among many of the interesting things Ellen Hutchins collected were collections that…
Richard Spruce
“Whenever rains, swollen streams, and grumbling Indians combined to overwhelm me with…
W. A. Murrill
William Murrill became an assistant curator at NYBG in 1904, and was…
Yuletide Greetings
European winter traditions that predate Christianity have a large focus on plants.…