herbarium specimens
Dried botanical collections
Herbarium specimens are preserved plant samples mounted on paper and stored for scientific study.
Plants are typically pressed flat, dried, and labeled with collection data—species, location, date, collector.
Natural history museums and universities maintain herbaria containing millions of specimens, some centuries old, serving as permanent records for taxonomy and research: The herbarium specimens confirmed the species had once grown in this region.
- plant identificationDetermining a specimen's species
- dryingMoisture removal process
- dried leavesDesiccated tree droppings
- type specimensOrganisms defining species names
- catalogingSystematic organization into records
natural history museum · pressing · pressed flowers · digitization · genetic studies · climate change research · accessioning · Linnaeus · mounting · fumigation · silica gel · labeling · paper · plant · fern · sheet · collection · taxonomy
- botany historyCarl Linnaeus, Linnaeus, herbarium, herbaria, botanical gardens
- dried botanicalsdried flowers, dried lavender, dried roses, dried leaves, dried herbs
- herbariumherbarium, dried specimens, pressed flowers, type specimens, dried leaves
- curiositiesoddities, curiosities, rarities, wonders, anomalies
- bioremainsbones, teeth, seeds, pollen, shells
herbarium specimenswild plants
Uncultivated vegetation
potted plants · natural vegetation · nursery stock · houseplants
herbarium specimensbotanical gardens
Curated living plant museum
arboreta · greenhouses · conservatories · field observations · nurseries