Herbarium
The University
Herbarium, begun in 1761, houses an internationally famous collection of over 1 million pressed, mounted, and named plant specimens arranged in systematic
order. Specimens from around the world have been added to the collection as a result of purchases, gifts, exchanges and benefactions. The Herbarium, contains some
50,000 type specimens. It is famous for its historic collections, for example, the plant specimens collected by Charles Darwin on the voyage of the 'Beagle', and the
John Lindley Herbarium with its many new species collected on nineteenth-century expeditions to unexplored places in North America and Australia. The Herbarium
also has a unique collection of taxonomic books and floras.
Opening times
As space does not permit permanent displays, the Herbarium is not open to the public but researchers, both professional and amateur, are welcome to use the collections (by prior agreement) in their taxonomic, ecological and conservation investigations.
News
The Herbarium has now relocated to the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University Botanic Garden and is available once again for research enquiries.
- Quick Links
- Finding the Department
- Darwin Online
- Darwin's plants from the Beagle voyage
- Darwin Correspondence Project
- Other Museums
- What Henslow taught Darwin. How a herbarium helped to lay the foundations of evolutionary thinking." David Kohn, Gina Murrell, John Parker and Mark Whitehorn. Nature 436
- Download
- Authorisation for Herbarium visitor to use the taxonomy library (word doc)
- Contact
- Christine Bartram
The Herbarium,
Sainsbury Laboratory,
Cambridge University,
Bateman Street,
Cambridge CB2 1LR