Vascular Herbarium

The Vascular Herbarium contains over 273,000 plant collections from the six New England states, and includes historic collections by Merritt L. Fernald, W. Deane, W. H. Manning, Kate Furbish, E. L. Rand, and W. Oakes, important 20th century collections by S. K. Harris, A. S. Pease and others, as well as more recent collections by B. A. Sorrie, D. E. Boufford, L. J. Merhoff, R. I. Bertin and L. A. Standley.

All specimens, including newly incorporated specimens, have been digitized. Specimen data, images and other records are included in the Harvard University online databases (https://kiki.huh.harvard.edu/databases/specimen_index.html)  and the Consortium of Northeast Herbaria portal (https://neherbaria.org).

People

The NEBS Herbarium is integrated with the vascular holdings of the Harvard University Herbaria. Visitors are welcome to visit the HUH to study specimens by appointment (contact huh-requests@oeb.harvard.edu). While working in the combined NEBS/HUH New England Collections, please take special care to keep the specimens and folders in the exact order that you found them in. Specimens are filed geographically, by state and county.

All loans and requests for destructive sampling are handled through the Harvard University Herbaria, and are made to scientific institutions only. Please see the HUH website or contact huh-requests@oeb.harvard.edu to request a loan of vascular plant specimens from the NEBS herbarium.

The NEBS encourages responsible collecting of New England plant specimens to continue to ensure that the herbarium represents the diversity, distribution, and phenology of the New England flora. Collectors must adhere to the policies on Ethics and Permits and Permissions. The Vascular Plant Collecting Guidelines provide further details.  Collectors should contact the Curator before submitting any specimens.

The Herbarium welcomes volunteers willing to assist with curatorial work. Generally, volunteer days are scheduled semi-annually and are advertised in monthly e-mails to members and posted on the website. Please contact the Curator if you are interested in becoming a volunteer.

The next volunteer workday at the Vascular Plant and Cryptogam Herbaria at Harvard University Herbaria will be prior to the meeting on Friday, November 6, 2026.  There are plenty of curatorial tasks for people at all levels of experience from 10 AM to 5 PM. Please contact NEBS Curator of Vascular Plants, Lisa Standley at lisa_standley@verizon.net before Wednesday, Nov. 4 if you are interested in helping in the Vascular Plant Herbarium.

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