Draw and Create Specimen Challenge
Herbarium specimens are an important piece of a larger puzzle; helping people…
People for Scale
A picture is worth a thousand words, and sometimes it's easier to…
Women's Scientific Empowerment
Natural history was immensely popular in the Victorian era, but women were…
Good grief, Charles Geyer
Charles (Karl) A. Geyer was a pioneer botanical collector of the Northwestern…
Confetti
No party is complete without confetti—especially when ringing in the new year.…
Autumnal
Grab a warm beverage and your favorite sweater—the colors on these specimens evoke…
Springtime with Peter Zika
If seasonal allergies or the depths of winter have got you down,…
It's not easy being green
People might pass over these green specimens 'cause they're not standing out…
Aquatic Hitchhikers
Although all plants need some water to grow, aquatic plants have adapted…
Chock-full of chromosomes
Cabinet of CuriositiesFocus on Science
Behold this fern which has the highest recorded chromosome number of any living…
Season it with Leaves
Culinary herbs are plants with aromatic properties and that are used for…
The Lemmons: Partners in Botany
Sara Plummer met John Gill Lemmon in 1876 when he came to…
Myanmar Mystery Solved
Working in a Herbarium sometimes requires detective work. This Myanmar mystery started…
Be All My Sins Remembered
Up until this point, Ophelia has lived a rather charmed life –…
Ophelia’s Flowers
Shakespeare never visited the crown prince Hamlet’s home on the east coast of…
From 1920’s adventure narrative to new species –…
Focus on ScienceWhat's in a name?
The amount of time between when a species is first collected and…
Koʻoloaʻula
This Federally Endangered Hibiscus relative with bright red flowers is endemic to…
Typical: Ceratozamia euryphyllidia, the largest type?
Plant specimens come in all shapes and sizes, but they are usually…
NY's Missing Species
When you think of a rare, endangered species, you may think of far-off…
Exploring the Bahamas with Lewis Jones Knight Brace
The Bahamas suffered its worst natural disaster recently as Hurricane Dorian, a…
Vanda
Vanda is a tropcial Asian and Australian orchid genus with 85 known…
Orchids in your Home!
Orchids are the largest plant family, with over 28,000 known species, and…
Ethel Zoe Bailey
Women in ScienceFocus on Science
Ethel Zoe Bailey (1889–1983), was the first curator of the Bailey Hortorium…
Species that Work-from-Home
Like many of you, NYBG herbarium staff are currently working from home…
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…
Prairie White Fringed Orchid
Nearly all of the habitat of the endangered Prairie White Fringed Orchid…
Orchids of New York: Fairy Slippers and Dragon…
Although most orchids are found in the tropical mountain systems of the…
Meet Spiranthes bightensis: A New Orchid in Our…
Focus on ScienceSpecimen Stories
Botanists have probably described and named 99% of the plants native to…
A Botanical Tour of Harlem
The New York City neighborhood of Harlem is a center for Black…
No Leaves, No Problem!
Although the vast majority of plants have leaves, not all plants do,…
Royal Symbols
Plants have been employed as royal symbols through time and across cultures.…
The LGBTQ+ Legacy of NYBG: Out of the…
Herbarium specimens are kept in metal cabinets to protect them from damage.…
Naming the Rainbow: Indicum / Indigo
Indigo, the dark bluish-purple color of blue jeans, is a natural dye…
Phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis, the moth orchids, are perhaps the most commonly cultivated orchid. With…
Vanishing Lakes: Tulare Lake
The California Central Valley was once a matrix of riparian grasslands and…
Vanishing Lakes: Owens Lake
The drying of Owens Lake is a human-made catastrophe. In 1913, the…
Vanishing Lakes: Salton Sea
Ingloriously described as “the biggest environmental disaster in California history,” and a…
Miltonia
Miltonia consists of 20 naturally occuring species and hybrids that are entirely…
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…