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

Hemmings, RAU associate professor in ecology, said the "immense value" of historic herbarium collections for "tackling current environmental issues" is now being recognised.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 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

Dr. Gillespie and her team also examined over 300 existing herbarium specimens from the park area, most of which were collected in 1950, the last time botanists intensively studied this part of Baffin Island.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024

Duke University has decided to close its herbarium, a collection of 825,000 specimens of plants, fungi and algae that was established more than a century ago.

From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

Trucks carry off skeletons and meteorites and octopi in jars and herbarium sheets and Egyptian gold and South African ivory and Permian fossils.

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

New techniques that allow scientists to key into specific regions of DNA and stitch together fragments have opened the door to sequencing herbaria samples—and made the new study possible.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 23, 2024

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

When dry it is soon attacked and eaten by certain insects, which are fond of a number of fungi, so that they are difficult to preserve in good condition in herbaria without great care.

From Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. by George Francis Atkinson

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

In search of these she was tireless and many hours were spent after her return from her rides, in pressing her “specimens” and preparing herbariums.

From Dorothy on a Ranch by Evelyn Raymond

Here are botanists who love the growing things in the fields and woods better than the specimens in their herbariums.

From The Gentle Reader by Samuel McChord Crothers

Tell us all about flowers and plants for herbariums.

From Harper's Round Table, May 21, 1895 by Various