Research | Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

All Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C., including the National Zoo, and in New York City are temporarily closed to support the effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. We are not announcing a re-opening date at this time and will provide updates on a week-to-week basis.

Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Current Research Areas

Research staff in the Department of Botany study plant systematics and floristics of plant communities across the globe. Both modern and fossil species of many plant groups, including algae, mosses, ferns and flowering plants, are currently being studied. Smithsonian botanists conduct field studies in many parts of the United States and around the world.

Geographic

Guiana escarpment

Biological diversity of the Guiana Shield

Alpinia purpurata

Hawaiian Islands

Flora of Marquesas

Marquesas Islands

Micronesia

Flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Cherry blossoms

Washington-Baltimore Area

Caribbean

Specialities

DNA Barcode Project

DNA Barcode Project

Liana tendril

Lianas and Climbing Plants of the Neotropics

Taxonomic

Algae

Dinoflagellates

Dinoflagellates

Grass Research

Grasses (Poaceae)

Onagraceae Research