Cattleya
Cattleya is a genus of 129 tropcial American orchids distributed from Costa…
Dendrobium
With over 1,800 know species, Dendrobium is one of the 10 most…
NYBG 2022 New Species Review!
Every year, botanists describe hundreds of new plant, algal, fungal, and lichen…
Dr. Héctor S. Osorio (1928-2016)
Dr. Héctor Saul Osorio, born in 1928 in Montevideo, was a Uruguayan…
Dra. Noris Salazar-Allen (1947-)
Noris Salazar-Allen, acclaimed researcher and bryologist, studies the group of non-vascular plants…
Dra. Gabriela G. Hässel de Menéndez (1927-2009)
Dra. Gabriela Gustava Hässel de Menéndez’s scientific career spanned almost sixty years…
Celebrating Cryptogamic Botanists from Latin America
The Caribbean, Central America, and South America have long been geographical focal…
Dra. Laura Guzmán-Dávalos (1961-)
Laura Guzmán-Dávalos’ explorations into the world of fungi are vast and far-reaching,…
Dra. Lidia Itatí Ferraro (1951-)
Dr. Lidia Itatí Ferraro, born in 1951, is an accomplished Argentine lichenologist.…
Ynés E. J. Mexia (1870-1938)
A social worker and Sierra Club member at the time, Ynés Mexia…
Dr. Juan Larraín (1979-)
Juan Larraín is a self-taught bryologist who focuses on bryophyte diversity in…
Remembrances of Yours
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies,that’s…
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…
Ginger and Chiya
Ginger, also known as Zingiber officinale is native to tropical climates like…
Aloe: The Plant of Many Wonders
Aloe vera is one of the over 300 species of Aloe belonging…
Sugar Cane and the Tropical Traces of Empires
Take a moment and think about how easy is to get sweet…
Curious Indigo
Indigo: a profound shade of blue sourced from nature’s color palette; A…
Riclef Grolle
Riclef Grolle (1934 – 2004) was among the most dedicated and knowledgeable…
Season it with Leaves
Culinary herbs are plants with aromatic properties and that are used for…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Cycas riuminiana
Cycads carry significance as “living fossils,” existing in a way that is…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Eugenia koolauensis
Many Latin plant names feature the intersection of imperial European botany and…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Tahina spectabilis
This more “newly discovered” plant was given its Latin name in 2008,…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: A Digital Display of…
“Behind all scientific names are the stories of their objects, of the…
The Herbarium of Endangerment: Vanilla planifolia
One may be most familiar with vanilla’s taste and aroma. The fruit…
Royal Symbols
Plants have been employed as royal symbols through time and across cultures.…
Lichenicolous Fungi
Composed of different species each playing a different role, a lichen can…
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…
Naming the Rainbow: Indicum / Indigo
Indigo, the dark bluish-purple color of blue jeans, is a natural dye…
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…
Naming the Rainbow: Coccineum / Scarlet
A close cousin of the color rubrum, coccineum (Latin for scarlet) is…
Naming the Rainbow: Aurantiaco / Orange
Alas, the Latin name of the sweet orange that makes orange juice…
Naming the Rainbow: Viola / Violet
In an etymological twist, the color violet takes its name from the violet…
Naming the Rainbow: Purpurea / Purple
The deep color purpura, Latin for purple, is commonly used to indicate…
Bigelow's mushroom photographs
In the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden there are over 30,000…
A World of Botanical Illustrations: Japanese plants referenced…
For decades, Studio Ghibli Inc. has been revered as one of the…
Ethel Zoe Bailey
Women in ScienceFocus on Science
Ethel Zoe Bailey (1889–1983), was the first curator of the Bailey Hortorium…
Sarah “Sadie” Frances Price
Sarah “Sadie” Frances Price (1849-1903) was one of Kentucky’s most esteemed botanical…
Caroline Coventry Haynes
Caroline Coventry Haynes (1858-1951) is best known for her significant contributions to…
Gertrude Simmons Burlingham
Gertrude Simmons Burlingham (1872-1952) was an American mycologist who specialized in the…
Women in Cryptogamic Botany
As scientific perspectives of the Enlightenment movement fostered enthusiasm surrounding the acquisition…
Josephine Elizabeth Tilden
Josephine Elizabeth Tilden (1869-1957) was one of few women allowed a faculty…
Elke Mackenzie (I.M. Lamb)
The work and dedication of Elke Mackenzie (1911-1990) is critical to our…
Clara Eaton Cummings
Clara E. Cummings (1855-1906) was a cryptogamic botanist who focused primarily on…
Okra’s journey to the United States
Many culinary delights that Americans enjoy today, especially in the Southern United…
A Botanical Tour of Harlem
The New York City neighborhood of Harlem is a center for Black…
NYBG 2021 New Species Review!
Every year, botanists describe hundreds of new plant, fungal, and lichen species from…
Label Appreciation: Favorites
Labels are as important to a herbarium specimen as the plant, alga, or…
El Yunque
Set foot in El Yunque, the beautiful tropical rain forest in eastern Puerto…
Vampires Among Us: The Ghost Pipe Plant
Did you know that some plants lack chlorophyll? Often confused for a…
Leaves of three, let it be!
If you enjoy spending time outdoors, you surely have heard the age-old…
Fire Island: Preserving a Unique Ecological & Cultural…
On a geological time scale, barrier islands are by definition impermanent, ever-changing,…
Meet Spiranthes bightensis: A New Orchid in Our…
Focus on ScienceSpecimen Stories
Botanists have probably described and named 99% of the plants native to…
Follow a 1910 Botanical Expedition through Western Cuba
The United States entered the Spanish American War in April of 1898.…
Views from a 1910 Botanical Expedition through Western…
New York Botanical Garden led around 136 botanical expeditions between 1898 and 1918.…
Polka-dot Ferns
Unlike flowering plants, ferns reproduce with spores instead of seeds. Fern spores…