Search
Department of
Botany
**While the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History exhibition spaces will partially open to the public on June 18th, our collections remain closed to most staff and all researchers, and the museum’s COVID-19 loan moratorium remains in effect. Currently, there is no capacity to accommodate collections activities including visits, image requests, loans, and shipments. While there is no current date set for when on-site collections activities will resume, we will update as soon as this changes.**
The United States National Herbarium was founded in 1848, when the first collections were accessioned from the United States Exploring Expedition (50,000 specimens of 10,000 species). Current holdings total 5 million specimens, making this collection among the ten largest in the world representing about 8% of the plant collection resources of the United States. The herbarium is especially rich in type specimens (@110,000).
The United States National Herbarium was founded in 1848, when the first collections were accessioned from the United States Exploring Expedition (50,000 specimens of 10,000 species). Current holdings total 5 million specimens, making this collection among the ten largest in the world representing about 8% of the plant collection resources of the United States. The herbarium is especially rich in type specimens (@110,000).
Further Your Research
The plant collections of the Department of Botany are among the most important worldwide. This vast and intensely managed collection of over 5 million specimens represents a premier national and international resource.
