The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, NY 10458-5126
United States
Emily B. Sessa
Email: esessa@nybg.org
The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden (NY) is the largest in the Western Hemisphere, with approximately 7.8 million specimens. Established in 1891, the Steere Herbarium contains vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, lichens, and algae from around the world, with an emphasis on collections from the Americas. The Herbarium grows at a rate of ±30,000 specimens per year, with specimens acquired through staff expeditions, exchange programs, and gifts. In an average year, visiting researchers spend 1200 person-days using the collection. Loans of specimens to researchers at other institutions number ±5,000-10,000 per year.
Digitized occurrence data for approximately 4.7 million specimens are available online through NYBG’s C. V. Starr Virtual Herbarium. At present, active digitization projects contribute ±170,000 new specimen catalogue records each year. Among the major projects already completed are type specimens for all groups (±150,000 specimens); lichens and bryophytes of North America (±500,000 specimens); algae (±179,000 specimens); ferns and lycophytes (±260,000 specimens); fungi (±470,000 specimens); collections from the Caribbean region (±328,000 specimens); and vascular plants of Brazil (±403,000 specimens). The Virtual Herbarium also includes Index Herbariorum , a directory of the world's herbaria, and the Index to American Botanical Literature , a bibliography for the plants and fungi of the Americas.
Materials of Special Interest
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Incorporated Herbaria:
Columbia University (1895): 600,000 specimens
Barnard College (1901): 18,000 specimens
Columbia College of Pharmacy (1945)
Princeton University (1945): 48,000 specimens
Stanford University (1968): 4,580 specimens of bryophytes from the Arctic, as well as New York specimens
University of Kansas (1969): 4,402 specimens of bryophytes
Florida State University (1973): 8,158 specimens of bryophytes
Torrey Botanical Club (1973): 100,000 specimens
Carnegie Museum (1981): 41,900 specimens of fungi and algae
Ecological Herbarium, American Museum of Natural History (1982): 632 specimens
University of Utah (1982): 6,479 specimens of fungi
Wesleyan University (1982): 10,700 specimens
Hamilton College (1983): 6,200 specimens
Hobart and William Smith Colleges (1983): 3,470 specimens
De Pauw University (1987): 127,119 specimens
Wabash College (1987): 17,442 specimens
Wellesley College (1988): 63,464 specimens
University of Massachusetts (1989): 30,632 specimens of fungi
State University of New York at Brockport (1989): tropical specimens
University of Texas (1990): 1,116 specimens of fungi
Cotton Branch, Agricultural Research Service, College Station, Texas (1993): 19,918 specimens
Gettysburg College (1993): 555 historical specimens
Herb Society of America, New York Unit (1996): 516 specimens
Mianus River Gorge Preserve (1996): 246 specimens
Kansas State University (1997): 17,000 specimens of fungi
Tulane University (2000): 10,000 specimens of fungi
California Academy of Sciences (2002): approximately 2,000 specimens of fungi.
- Geographic Areas Particularly Well Represented: North America (especially eastern United States, Intermountain Region, Alaska, California); West Indies (especially Greater Antilles); South America (especially Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana Highlands, Andean Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela).
- Taxonomic Groups Particularly Well Represented (with emphasis in New World species, unless otherwise noted):
- Vascular Plants: Anacardiaceae, Asteraceae, Burseraceae, Cactaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Campanulaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Clusiaceae, Connaraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Cuscutaceae (worldwide), Cycadales (worldwide), Cyperaceae (worldwide), Eriocaulaceae, Dichapetalaceae, Ericaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lauraceae, Lecythidaceae, Loganiaceae, Malpighiaceae, Malvaceae (worldwide), Melastomataceae, Menispermaceae, Mimosaceae, Palmae, Pinales, Piperaceae (worldwide), Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Pteridophytes, Rapateaceae, Rosaceae, Rutaceae, Salicaceae, Sapotaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Simaroubaceae, Solanaceae, Verbenaceae (worldwide), Vochysiaceae.
- Bryophytes: Hepatics: Lejeuneaceae, Porellaceae, Ricciaceae. Mosses: Calymperaceae, Fontinalaceae Orthotrichaceae, Sematophyllaceae.
- Fungi: Aphyllophorales, Agaricales , Discomycetes, Gasteromycetes, Myxomycetes, Pyrenomycetes, Uredinales.
- Lichens: Trypetheliaceae (worldwide).
- Algae: Charophyceae (worldwide); Coralline algae.