Sugar pine
Called "the most princely of the genus" by David Douglas, sugar pine…
Weird & Wild Legumes
Cabinet of CuriositiesSpecimen Stories
Members of plant family Fabaceae (bean or legume family) produce a kind…
A botanist's best friend
Botanists and dogs make good companions in the field. Dogs provide companionship, warn…
The Language of Flowers
Throughout time, people have assigned meaning to flowers, and many cultures have…
Escapes from cultivation
Humans have a long history of moving and cultivating plant species. But…
Western Road Trip
In the summer of 1952, recently retired Wabash College¹ botany professor Albert…
Label Appreciation: Borders
Labels are as important to a herbarium specimen as the plant, alga, or…
Traveling Plants
While plants can’t walk, they can definitely travel. Plants have evolved a…
George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver (1860s–1943) was an inventor, teacher, botanist, and mycologist (a…
Brown and Beautiful
Whether naturally brown, or turning brown during the preservation steps needed to create herbarium…
Western Road Trip: Crater Lake
It might be hard to believe the Bechtels could take their eyes…
Women in Genera
What's in a name?Women in Science
For as long as we've been using binomial nomenclature to name species,…
Dog Days of Summer: Bad Dog!
Specimen StoriesWhat's in a name?
Dogs have not always been the beloved companions and family members they…
Indicators of past settlement
Humans alter the environments where they live and we can use those…
Palm Patterns
Creating specimens of palms pose a challenge to collectors—how best to trim, arrange,…
Fruits of Rosaceae
Flowering plants differ from all other plants by producing seeds within fruits;…
Polka-dot Ferns
Unlike flowering plants, ferns reproduce with spores instead of seeds. Fern spores…
Modern Art
Herbarium specimens play an important part in plant science research. But the specimens themselves can…
Seuss-ian Specimens
While the illustrations in books by Dr. Seuss depict fanciful folliage, reality…
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…