Minnesota State University at Mankato

Minnesota State University, Mankato opened its doors on 7 October 1868 as Mankato Normal School—the second of its kind to open in Minnesota. While it is impossible to pinpoint the exact time the Herbarium began, it likely dates from the School's earliest years. Collecting and preserving botanical specimens was a common activity for students at all levels. Our collection includes several bound herbaria made by Mankato high school students in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps the teachers who oversaw this work were graduates of Mankato Normal School. The bindings and pages (left) were printed by the Ulysses Cox Company in Mankato. The smaller herbarium (right) dates from 1891; binding and pages were printed in Boston.

Specimens came from a variety of sources. Some were purchased and some were probably acquired in trades with other herbaria. Most of our specimens, however, were collected by students and staff. This journal dated 1965 was prepared by Richard Ray Davis to catalog the Herbarium's holdings. One of the oldest specimens listed is a horsetail collected in Sweden in 1896.

The herbarium houses specimens collected by Gilbert H. Trafton, Professor of Biology from 1911 to 1943 and Chair of the Division of Science and Mathematics. It houses voucher specimens for the graduate students of LaRoy Zell. Zell oversaw at least 20 floristic surveys between 1957 and 1974, most of them focused on ferns and fern allies of southern Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Professors Donald Jacobs, Daniel Burton, Merrill Frydendall, and many students contributed to the collection. Don Gordon's students pressed and identified plants as part of his Plant Taxonomy course between 1968 and 1999. Many of these specimens are still waiting to be mounted. Alison Mahoney's students have been adding specimens to the collection since 1999. She has also contributed about 200 specimens, including an isotype for a plant variety she named.

Materials contributed by Minnesota State University at Mankato (MANK):

• Specimens