People for Scale
A picture is worth a thousand words, and sometimes it's easier to…
Traveling Plants: Plants on the move
Plants might not be able to move the way animals do, but…
Traveling Plants: People lend a hand
Plants have lots of ways they can move and distribute their propagules…
Firewood and pathogens
As plants travel the world with people, these plants can bring along…
Tumbleweeds
Tumbleweeds aren’t restricted to one species or plant family, but are an…
Duck dispersal
As more land is developed, plants have an increasingly difficult task of…
Ballast Plants
Ships transporting cargo and passengers use ballast to stabilize the ship at…
Hitchhikers
Some plants have evolved to literally hitchhike on passing animals. They have…
Seeds go ballistic
Getting help is great, but sometimes you just have to do something…
Fruit-eating lemurs
Given the abundance of tasty fruit, it is clear that many plants…
Escapes from cultivation
Humans have a long history of moving and cultivating plant species. But…
Traveling Plants
While plants can’t walk, they can definitely travel. Plants have evolved a…
Indicators of past settlement
Humans alter the environments where they live and we can use those…
Aquatic Hitchhikers
Although all plants need some water to grow, aquatic plants have adapted…
Autumnal
Grab a warm beverage and your favorite sweater—the colors on these specimens evoke…
Attractive Frances Baker
This specimen arrived as part of an exchange from another herbarium, wrapped…
A botanist's best friend
Botanists and dogs make good companions in the field. Dogs provide companionship, warn…
Tomato Persona
Choose your tomato persona. While all the same species, Solanum lycopersicum, tomatoes…
Dog Days of Summer: Bad Dog!
Specimen StoriesWhat's in a name?
Dogs have not always been the beloved companions and family members they…
Salix loan to Japan
Botany is a collaborative science that relies on sharing data and specimens…
Western Road Trip: Marble Canyon
The Grand Canyon might be the grandest of canyons carved by the…
Western Road Trip: Grant Grove
When visiting giant sequoia trees, you spend a lot of time looking…
Western Road Trip
In the summer of 1952, recently retired Wabash College¹ botany professor Albert…
Western Road Trip: Crater Lake
It might be hard to believe the Bechtels could take their eyes…
Typical: Erythronium helenae
Specimen StoriesWhat's in a name?
One of the common names for the genus Erythronium is the dogtooth…
Floral Fireworks
When fireworks are needed, no matter the reason, these herbarium specimens will help…
Point Judith
Can't get away to the beach? Let these field photographs and algae…
Typical: Gymnopilus pallidus
Some characters are altered in the drying process used to create herbarium specimens.…
It's not easy being green
People might pass over these green specimens 'cause they're not standing out…
Granite outcrop specialists
Plants are amazing and can adapt to live in the most unlikely…
Chock-full of chromosomes
Cabinet of CuriositiesFocus on Science
Behold this fern which has the highest recorded chromosome number of any living…
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…
Springtime with Peter Zika
If seasonal allergies or the depths of winter have got you down,…
#plantlove
Specimens contained in the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium represent the endless…
John Muir
John Muir (1838–1914) was an influential naturalist and conservationist, and co-founder of the…
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…
The Language of Flowers
Throughout time, people have assigned meaning to flowers, and many cultures have…
Jeanne Baret
CollectorsWomen in ScienceExpeditions
Jeanne Baret was the first woman ever to circumnavigate the globe, but…
Before & After: P. F. Zika 28277
The unmounted herbarium specimen, as it arrived at the garden in the…
Newspaper time capsule: B. Maguire 23559
A trip to the field isn't always necessary to describe a new…
The Lemmons: Partners in Botany
Sara Plummer met John Gill Lemmon in 1876 when he came to…
Becoming a mountain woman
Marie Mooar spent a lot of time in the wilds of western…
Art Cronquist's Hat
If you spend time looking at herbarium specimens collected by Arthur Cronquist,…
Weird & Wild Legumes
Cabinet of CuriositiesSpecimen Stories
Members of plant family Fabaceae (bean or legume family) produce a kind…
What is a type specimen?
When a researcher names a new species of algae, fungi, or plant,…
Typical: Hibiscadelphus stellatus
This type specimen is like a postcard from Hawaii reading "Wish you…
Damaged by enemy action
Herbarium specimens are windows into the past and can help us answer…
Good grief, Charles Geyer
Charles (Karl) A. Geyer was a pioneer botanical collector of the Northwestern…
A trip to Fire Island with Peggy Hopkins
While we might not get to summer with the likes of Madonna…
Typical: Astragalus cusickii var. packardiae
Covered in flower dissection illustrations by Rupert Barneby — we should all…
Women's Scientific Empowerment
Natural history was immensely popular in the Victorian era, but women were…