Duke University Herbarium
Box 90338, BioSci Bldg Rm. 137
Durham, North Carolina
27708-0338
United States
Dr. Kathleen Pryer, Herbarium Director
Email: pryer@duke.edu
Michael Windham, Curator of Vascular Plants
Email: mdw26@duke.edu
A. Jon Shaw, Curator of Bryophytes
Email: shaw@duke.edu
The Duke Herbarium contains over 800,000 specimens of vascular plants, bryophytes, algae, lichens, and basidiomycete fungi, including more than 1900 types. The collection is especially rich in specimens from the southeastern United States, but has synoptic representation worldwide.
The bryophyte herbarium includes approximately 230,000 specimens, of which some 160,000 are mosses. With about 50,000 moss collections from the southeastern United States, the DUKE collection is one of, if not the most important, resource for documenting the southeastern moss flora. Important collections of bryophytes include those of L.E. Anderson, H.L. Blomquist, M. Crosby, A.J. Grout, B.D. Mishler, W.B. Schofield, R. Schuster, A.J. Shaw, and 48 bryophyte exsiccatae collections. In recognition of Lewis E. Anderson's contributions, the bryophyte herbarium was formally named the L.E. Anderson Bryophyte Herbarium in November, 1998.
The lichen collection consists of about 160,000 lichen specimens including 600 lichen types. It is focused mainly on collections of Cladoniaceae and Parmeliaceae, although collections of crustose lichens are increasing due to the activities of members of the Lutzoni lab. Geographic focus: southeastern United States, Iceland, Europe, western Australia, South Korea. William L. Culberson joined the Duke Department of Botany in 1955 and was instrumental in arranging the purchase of most of the herbarium of J. Harmand (author of the 5-vol. Lichens de France) and the herbarium of Johan J. Havaas, a well-known Norwegian lichenologist. The scientific value of the lichen collection has been greatly increased by extensive chemical annotations of some 12,000 collections in the herbarium, largely through the continuing effort of Chicita F. Culberson. In May 2010, the Duke lichen collection was formally named the William Louis & Chicita F. Culberson Lichen Herbarium & Library in recognition of their contributions to Duke and to the study of lichenology.
Duke Herbarium houses over 400,000 specimens of vascular plants, including 821 types. The collection is especially rich in accessions from the Southeastern United States, in particular the Carolinas, and Mesoamerica. The vascular plant herbarium contains an important collection of over 22,000 sheets from La Selva in Costa Rica.