The University of Michigan Herbarium is the
herbarium of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. One of the most-extensive
botanical
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
collections in the world, the herbarium has some 1.7 million
specimen
Specimen may refer to:
Science and technology
* Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount
* Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...
s of
vascular plant
Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...
s,
algae,
bryophyte
The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited in s ...
s,
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
, and
lichens, and is a valuable resource for teaching and research in
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
and botany.
[About](_blank)
University of Michigan Herbarium. The herbarium includes many
rare and
extinct species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
.
Administration
Formerly an independent unit of the
(LSA), the herbarium is now part of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology within LSA.
[Director's Update](_blank)
University of Michigan Herbarium. The herbarium is located at 3600 Varsity Drive in Ann Arbor.
The Herbarium funds one
Graduate Museum Assistant annually.
[Student Opportunities](_blank)
University of Michigan Herbarium. It also has since 1977 awarded the annual Kenneth L. Jones Award to an outstanding
plant sciences
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
at the University of Michigan.
History
The Herbarium's collection was established in 1837.
Dr.
Asa Gray was appointed Professor of Botany and Zoology in 1838.
[History](_blank)
University of Michigan Herbarium. Collections were moved to the Main Building (later Mason Hall) in 1841.
The first published research paper based on the university's botanical holdings came in 1877, when a paper by Professor Mark W. Harrington was published in the ''
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
The ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a scientific journal publishing original papers relating to the taxonomy of all plant groups and fungi, including anatomy, biosystematics, cytology, ecology, ethnobotany, electron microscopy, ...
''.
Mycologist Alexander H. Smith
Alexander Hanchett Smith (December 12, 1904 – December 12, 1986) was an American mycologist known for his extensive contributions to the taxonomy and phylogeny of the higher fungi, especially the agarics.
Early life
Smith, born in Crandon, Wi ...
spent his entire career at the University of Michigan Herbarium, and was its longtime director.
In 1982, the museum marked its 60th anniversary; by that time, the herbarium had "grown from a modest collection of plants to become one of the largest university herbariums in the nations."
Collections
Among the 1.7 million specimens held by the Herbarium are:
[Collections](_blank)
, University of Michigan Herbarium.
*96,000 specimens of algae - "includes much material from classical
exsiccate sets, including the Phycotheca Boreali-Americana of about 45
folio
The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
s and W. H. Harvey's specimens from
Australia,
Ceylon, and the
Friendly Islands
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
," as well as "the former personal herbaria of W. R. Taylor and M. J. Wynne, the basis for much of their work on the
systematics and