Herbarium

The Yellowstone National Park Herbarium specimens document the presence of plants in the park over time and the history of plant collecting in the park. The collection includes more than 17,000 specimens.

NPS/Neal Herbert

 

The Yellowstone Herbarium primarily contains plants collected in Yellowstone National Park. Our herbarium specimens document the presence of plants in the park over time and the history of plant collecting in the park, making it a valuable resource for staff, visitors, and researchers.

The collection includes more than 17,000 specimens of vascular and non-vascular plants, fungi, and lichens. Our oldest specimens date to 1899 and traveled to the World Fair in 1903. Our collections of aquatic plants and non-vascular plants are some of the best in the Rocky Mountains. The herbarium may have the most comprehensive scientific collection of native aquatic vascular plant specimens in the western United States.

 

Visit the Herbarium

The Yellowstone Herbarium is located on the ground floor of the Heritage and Research Center in Gardiner, Montana. To make an appointment to see the herbarium, please contact the park botanist, Heidi Anderson, at 307-344-2564, e-mail us or stop by. We have multiple scopes and reference material that are available to use during the hours the herbarium is open.

 

Visitor Guidelines and Policies

We encourage visitors to tour this lovely facility and researchers to use it. To ensure that staff is able to provide researchers and visitors with access to the herbarium, we recommend making an appointment. Of course, you are always welcome to stop by and take your chances. First-time visitors wishing to use the herbarium must receive an orientation to the collections and specimen handling before access can be granted (less so for professional systematists).

Handling of Specimens

• Great care should always be used when handling specimens.
• Specimens should be held flat with both hands, such that the paper cannot bend and damage the specimen.
• Similarly, folders should always be carried horizontally and fully supported.
• Specimens in folders should never be shuffled as it can lead to damage of the underlying specimen. Furthermore, specimens should never be turned over as a page in a book.
• To inspect the contents of a folder, place it flat on a table, and stack specimens face up neatly to one side. Specimens on acidic paper should be maintained in a separate folder from the specimens on acid-free paper.
• Never rest objects such as books, elbows, etc., on specimens or folders.
• Specimens in need of annotation or repair should be brought to the attention of the herbarium staff.

Loan Requests

The specimens of the Yellowstone Herbarium are available for scientific study via loans to accredited institutions. Generally, loans are made for taxonomic or floristic research only, but exceptions may be made for other botanical investigations. A loan request must be in writing (emails are acceptable) from the researcher or curator of the institution where the specimens are to be shipped. It should be sent to Heidi Anderson, Park Botanist. The following information should be provided:

1. the name and status of the researcher requesting the material;
2. the name of the study; and
3. the taxa requested.

Loans of specimens are made for a period of six months. You may request an extension of the loan. While on loan, specimens must be housed in sealed herbarium cases and handled according to standard herbarium practices. We recognize that a limited amount of dissection may be necessary for some kinds of research. We request that dissections be kept to a minimum. All material dissected from a specimen must be placed in a fragment packet affixed to the sheet. Any need for destructive sampling (e.g., removal of seeds, pollen, DNA) is not generally allowed and would need to go through a permit process.

 

Physical Address

Heritage and Research Center
20 Old Yellowstone Trail
Gardiner, Montana 59030

Mailing Address

Yellowstone Herbarium
PO Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190

 

Resources

Source: Data Store Saved Search 3649. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.