herbarium

American  

[hur-bair-ee-uhm, ur-] / hɜrˈbɛər i əm, ɜr- /

noun

• herbariums,
  plural
• herbaria
  plural

1. a collection of dried plants systematically arranged.

2. a room or building in which such a collection is kept.

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herbarium British  

/ hɜːˈbɛərɪəm /

noun

1. a collection of dried plants that are mounted and classified systematically

2. a building, room, etc, in which such a collection is kept

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• herbarial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• herbaria
  plural
• herbariums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of herbarium

1770–80; < Late Latin, equivalent to Latin herb ( a ) herb, green vegetation + -ārium -arium

Explanation

A herbarium is a collection of preserved plants. Think of it as a library of herbs. A herbarium can be something as simple as that book of pressed flowers you made at summer camp, or as complex as a building that holds case after case of flowers soaked in formaldehyde, dried moss stored in archival quality envelopes, and cones from conifers organized in boxes. Find these larger collections at universities, botanical gardens, and natural history museums.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

herbarium herbaria herbariums

However, after the museum's original herbarium was damaged during World War Two, the space was repurposed to house the botanical collections and closed to the public.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Rousseau’s unfinished, unstructured “Reveries” resembles the herbarium in which he gathered a botanical record of his daily walks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

His work is based in MSU's herbarium, housing approximately 38,000 vascular plant specimens from around the world with an emphasis on the Southeastern U.S.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2024

“Duke’s decision to forgo responsibility of their herbarium specimens sets a terrible precedent,” the Natural Science Collections Alliance wrote in a letter to the university last Friday.

From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

The scientists and librarians still collect their keys in the mornings, still study their ancient elephants’ teeth, their exotic jellyfish, their herbarium sheets.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Over the next two years, it is hoped that more than 1.2 million specimen records from 23 museums and herbaria will be added to a central England hub.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

This intensive fieldwork resulted in over a thousand new specimens deposited at the National Herbarium of Canada at the Canadian Museum of Nature and other herbaria worldwide.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024

Meanwhile, Cheek said he's publishing more and more new plant species from undescribed herbaria specimens that are likely already extinct in the wild.

From Salon ● May 31, 2023

“There are undoubtedly more undescribed extinct species sitting in herbaria, collected 100 years ago.”

From New York Times ● Oct. 16, 2020

I shall take with me all very rare and doubtful plants, for examination and comparison with the celebrated herbaria of Europe.

From Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

Mr. Muñoz-Rodríguez and his colleagues visited museums and herbariums around the world to take samples of sweet potato varieties and wild relatives.

From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2018

The world’s herbariums contain a vast number of varieties that have yet to be genetically tested.

From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2018

Specimens of this grass were sent to Kew and Calcutta herbariums for identification and they were named C. montana, with which I could not agree.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by K. Rangachari

In Europe the Boehmeria tenacissima is but found in botanical gardens, or herbariums, and as yet not the slightest use is made of it for industrial purposes.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Karl Ritter von Scherzer

"We are going to the woods, too," said another group, "and will gather flowers to press for our herbariums."

From Pixy's Holiday Journey by George Lang