Britton's Chara
In the United States, there is no formal regulation for the endangered…
Astragalus osterhoutii, Osterhout milkvetch
Astragalus osterhoutii M. E. Jones (or Osterhout milkvetch) is an herbaceous plant known…
Elizabeth Britton and the Curly-Grass Fern
Specimen StoriesWomen in Science
Tucked away in an office drawer of NYBG’s Fern Curator, Robbin Moran,…
The Azalea Garden
Always a destination for Mother's Day, the Azalea Garden is a spring…
Chock-full of chromosomes
Cabinet of CuriositiesFocus on Science
Behold this fern which has the highest recorded chromosome number of any living…
NY's Missing Species
When you think of a rare, endangered species, you may think of far-off…
Don't touch
Plants have evolved many ways to protect themselves, from growing barbs that…
The Lilac Collection
The lilacs are blooming here at the Garden, gracing us with their…
Discovering a Darwin Collection
Cabinet of CuriositiesSpecimen Stories
In the museum world, there's a sort of joke that you never…
Old Man's Beard
This lichen grows as an epiphyte on trees. They require clean air,…
Carnivorous plants
Cabinet of CuriositiesFocus on Science
Watch out, these plants are hungry! Most carnivorous plants grow in bogs…
Fetid Flowers
With names like Stinking Benjamin, Corpse Flower, and Skunk Cabbage; these flowers…
4 Millionth Specimen
With 7,800,000 specimens in our herbarium, reaching 4,000,000 specimens catalogued in our…
Daffodils are blooming!
It's springtime and the daffodils are blooming outside! In the herbarium, these…
Most Vibrant
Cabinet of CuriositiesWorks of Art
If we were to give yearbook superlatives to herbarium specimens, these would…
J. K. Small's exploration in Southern Florida, 1915
John Kunkel Small, botanist and herbarium curator at the the New York Botanical…
John Kunkel Small
John Kunkel Small (1869-1938) was a taxonomist and botanical explorer, who specialized…
John Torrey
John Torrey (1796-1873) is considered one of the most influential American botanists…
John Torrey on Gray's Peak
In 1861 Charles Parry was the first explorer to ascend Gray's Peak…
Springtime with Peter Zika
If seasonal allergies or the depths of winter have got you down,…
Ancient plant DNA
Using a NYBG herbarium specimen, PhD grad student Lizzie Joyce turned back…
The Brittons: Partners in Life and Botany
The establishment of The New York Botanical Garden was the result of…
David Hosack's Elgin Botanic Garden
Elgin Botanic Garden was the first public botanical garden in the United…
Otto Kuntze
Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze was a german botanist who made expeditions to every…
#plantlove
Specimens contained in the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium represent the endless…
Ellen Hutchins - Ireland's First Female Botanist
Between 1805 and 1813, in Ballylickey on the shores of Bantry Bay,…
John Muir
John Muir (1838–1914) was an influential naturalist and conservationist, and co-founder of the…
Dolly's Lichen
NYBG lichen curator James Lendemer and then-PhD student Jessi Allen named this…
Fancy Foliage
Where did that sweet little potted plant sitting on your window sill…
Ellen's Algae
See more of Ellen Hutchin's beautifully detailed marine algae collections.
Typical: Double type
A herbarium's version of a double rainbow — a double type specimen.…
Sugar pine
Called "the most princely of the genus" by David Douglas, sugar pine…
Wolf lichen
The Wolf Lichen is one of the most showy North American lichens,…
A Horse, of Course
Collecting plants and algae was sometimes an artistic hobby, with dried or…
Gross
Sometimes collecting the perfect specimen means going places you'd rather not. Here…
Insect Zombies
Cordyceps are parasitic fungi that often parasitize insects in a way that…
The Cactaceae
The Cactaceae was a publication written by the founder of NYBG, Nathaniel Lord Britton…
Addisonia
Addisonia: Colored Illustrations and Popular Descriptions of Plants was a journal published by…
The Language of Flowers
Throughout time, people have assigned meaning to flowers, and many cultures have…
Frances W. Horne
Frances Horne was an academic, an artist and a botanist. She earned her…