Museum: Natural History: Biology: Herbarium Collection

The park maintains an herbarium in the museum collection for the purpose of research, education and interpretation, and to serve as a record of the plants of the Point Reyes Peninsula. Additional specimens are desirable to complete the herbarium collection, especially from the GGNRA North District lands The collection is expected to grow as a result of park activities and scholarly research.

Each species of seed plant growing in the park, native and non-native, should be represented by an herbarium specimen, including fruit and flower and root whenever possible, with additional specimens illustrating regional differences within Point Reyes and important variations in form, color, or hybrids. Each species of moss, liverwort, hornwort, algae, fern and fern ally should also be represented by a characteristic specimen.

At least one new to science species of lichen has been recently found on the Peninsula and the collection is expected to grow.

What makes the plants at Point Reyes so interesting?

• More than 64 vegetation communities or “alliances” have been mapped within the boundaries of Point Reyes National Seashore.
• The park is known to support more than 900 plant species, 68 of which are absent from the rest of Marin County.
• Nearly 18 percent of California’s more than 5,000 plant species are found on the peninsula.
• Point Reyes is a vegetation transition area between Pacific Northwest flora, adapted to cold, wet conditions, and Mediterranean flora, adapted to hot, dry conditions.
• Approximately 86 plant species reach their southern limit of distribution, while six plant species reach their northern limit of distribution here.
• More than six federally listed threatened and endangered plant species occur in the area.
• Many other species of concern have their most stable remaining populations here.
• Many rare plants within the boundaries of the park are found in fewer than 10 locations.
• There are currently over 80 known species of lichen in the area, one of which is a new to science species.
• To date, over 450 species of fungi from the Point Reyes peninsula have been collected by citizen scientists during the annual Fungal Fair in cooperation with the Bay Area Mycological Society and UC Berkeley. The resulting NPS voucher specimens are housed at the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley.

Know before you go.

Thinking of fungi hunting at Point Reyes National Seashore? Be smart, be safe, and enjoy your learning experience. Learn about fungi at Point Reyes and check out the Bay Area Mycological Society's Mushroom Poisonings page.

 

Links

Nature > Plants

Locations holding plant specimens found on the Point Reyes Peninsula:

• California Academy of Sciences Botany
• University of California Berkeley Herbarium
• University of California Berkeley Jepson Herbarium

Locations holding 50 lichen specimens collected in the Seashore and cataloged in collection:

• Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Photo Galleries: