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 ...

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
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

University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) is the liberal arts and sciences school of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Established in 1841 with seven students and two teachers, the college is current ...

(LSA), the herbarium is now part of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology within LSA.Director's Update
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
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
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
, 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

floristics {{Short pages monitor