UCLA Herbarium

UCLA Herbarium
Name	UCLA Herbarium
Established	1968
Location	University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
Collection size	~600,000 specimens

UCLA Herbarium is a major university botanical collection housed at the University of California, Los Angeles, serving as a regional and international resource for plant systematics, floristics, and conservation. The Herbarium supports research across campuses and institutions, provides specimens for taxonomic revisions, and underpins environmental assessments and biodiversity inventories for agencies and organizations.

History

The Herbarium traces institutional roots through affiliations with the University of California system and regional botanical initiatives associated with the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, and state agencies such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Its development intersected with botanical networks that include the California Botanical Society, the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, the Huntington Botanical Gardens, and research programs at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Davis. Early collections were augmented by donors and collectors connected to institutions like the Smithsonian Institution, the New York Botanical Garden, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Field Museum, and Kew Gardens. Influences from expeditions and collectors allied with the Arnold Arboretum, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Natural History Museum, London, shaped growth alongside collaborations with the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum and regional herbaria such as the Jepson Herbarium and San Diego Natural History Museum.

Collections and Specimens

The Herbarium's holdings encompass vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, and algae, with specimens documenting floras from California, western North America, Pacific islands, and international regions historically sampled by botanists affiliated with institutions like Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, and Cornell University. Specimens include type material, historical collections by field botanists who worked with the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Forest Service, the National Park Service, and botanical collectors who contributed to collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden. The collection documents biogeographic patterns relevant to research by authors associated with the Linnean Society, the Botanical Society of America, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It preserves specimens tied to floristic works such as regional floras and monographs produced by researchers linked to the California Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, and the New York Botanical Garden.

Research and Publications

Research facilitated by the Herbarium spans systematics, phylogenetics, floristics, and conservation biology, with outputs appearing in journals and series connected to the Botanical Society of America, the Linnean Society, the American Journal of Botany, Systematic Botany, Taxon, and Phytotaxa. Collaborations extend to projects involving the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Natural History Museum, London, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Staff and affiliates contribute to regional checklists, monographs, and red lists compiled in association with organizations such as the IUCN, the California Native Plant Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Nature Conservancy. Digitization and databasing efforts coordinate with initiatives at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Consortium of California Herbaria, the Integrated Digitized Biocollections, and herbaria networks at Harvard, Berkeley, and the New York Botanical Garden.

Facilities and Curation

Specimens are housed in climate-controlled spaces within university facilities that enable long-term preservation standards recommended by professional organizations including the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections and the American Institute for Conservation. Curatorial practices align with standards used at institutions such as the Field Museum, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Natural History Museum, London, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The Herbarium maintains databasing and imaging workflows similar to those at the Jepson Herbarium and the New York Botanical Garden, employing digitization protocols endorsed by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Integrated Digitized Biocollections. Specimen loans and exchanges follow policies used by the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University Herbaria, and the American Society of Plant Taxonomists.

Education and Outreach

The Herbarium supports teaching and training for students and collaborators from the University of California system, including UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC Riverside, and partners with regional organizations such as the California Native Plant Society, local museums, and botanical gardens including the Huntington Botanical Gardens and Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Outreach includes specimen-based workshops, public lectures, and citizen science programs coordinated with initiatives such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, iNaturalist, and regional conservation efforts by the Nature Conservancy and local park agencies. Educational activities connect with curricular units at institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University, and the University of Washington, and with professional meetings hosted by the Botanical Society of America and the California Botanical Society.

Notable Staff and Collaborators

Staff, curators, and collaborators have included university faculty, taxonomists, and field botanists who have worked in association with institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley, the Smithsonian Institution, the New York Botanical Garden, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Collaboration networks extend to regional partners at the Jepson Herbarium, San Diego Natural History Museum, the California Academy of Sciences, the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, and international partners tied to the Linnean Society and major botanical gardens and museums.

Category:Herbaria in the United States Category:University and college herbaria Category:University of California, Los Angeles