Center for Plant Diversity

The staff and specimens of the Center for Plant Diversity are a critical regional and campus resource for information on plant diversity. Our natural environment is changing, and the importance of preserving an archive of plant diversity is increasingly urgent. The Center for Plant Diversity houses such an archive – a herbarium of over 300,000 dried and pressed plant specimens collected around the world, many of which date back to the late 19th century. Want to know what wine grapes were grown in California in 1900? Interested in what native plants once grew in the Central Valley? Look in the herbarium!

The Center for Plant Diversity staff provide plant identification services, help researchers preserve specimens from their research projects, and teach students and the public about plant identification and plant collecting. They also share the stories associated with the specimens. Herbarium specimens not only show how plants look and where they are found, they are part of the rich history of plant collectors who have explored nature, climbed mountains, and crossed the seas to discover new plant species.

For more information, visit http://herbarium.ucdavis.edu