Alabama Herbarium Consortium

The Alabama Herbarium Consortium was unofficially established as the Flora of Alabama Checklist Committee in 2001 in order to create a checklist of all vascular plant species that occur in the state.  The checklist project gave rise to the current Atlas.

The AHC is composed of state herbaria and affiliated staff that curate a wealth of data detailing the flora of the Alabama.

In-state participating herbaria include:

Out-of-State Participating Herbaria Include:

The following herbarium curators and staff comprise the Alabama Plant Atlas committee.

Former Contributors:

  • Mr. C. Smoot Major, University of South Alabama

Additional Information

 The University of Alabama Herbarium

The UNA herbarium was established in the 1950s by Dr. Ralph Chermock. The Mohr Herbarium, on permanent loan to UNA from the Alabama Museum of Natural History, includes specimens dating back to 1840. It formed the basis for Mohr’s 1901 "Plant Life of Alabama," the only flora of Alabama yet to be written.

Location

The UNA Herbarium is located on the 4th floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall on The University of Alabama campus.

Phone: (205) 348-1826, (205) 348-1829
Fax: (205) 348-6460

Mailing Address:

The Herbarium (UNA)
Box 870345
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0345

website: http://bama.ua.edu/~bsc/herbarium/

Hours of Operation

The herbarium is open by appointment.

Collections

The UNA Herbarium curates 79,300 specimens.

Area of Taxonomic and Geographic Concentration

The herbarium today emphasizes collections from Alabama but has specimens, especially aquatics and Gesneriaceae from around the world.

Important Collections

Charles Mohr, Robert Haynes, Robert Kral, Alvin Diamond

Services

The Herbarium is available for use by qualified individuals. Specimens are available on loan to recognized botanical institutions engaged in taxonomic research.

Staff

Director:

John L. Clark, Ph.D.
Herbarium (UNA)
Department of Biological Sciences
Box 870345
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345

email: jlc@ua.edu
research interests: Gesneriaceae, molecular systematic

Collections Manager:

Steve Ginzbarg,
Herbarium (UNA)
Department of Biological Sciences
Box 870345
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345

email: sginzbar@ua.edu
research interests: Flora of Alabama, Croton

 

Troy University Herbarium

The TROY herbarium was established in the 1950’s by Dr. Robert Dietz. The early collections mostly documented the local flora of Pike County and served as a teaching collection.

Location

The TROY Herbarium is located in room 216 of the Math Science Complex on the campus of Troy University.

Phone: (334) 808-6157
Fax: (334) 670-3662

Mailing Address:

The Herbarium (TROY)
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Math Science Complex, University Avenue
Troy University, Alabama 36082

website: http://spectrum.troy.edu/herbarium/

Hours of Operation

The herbarium is open by appointment.

Collections

The TROY Herbarium curates over 42,000 specimens of vascular plants and approximately 1000 specimens of mosses, liverworts, and lichens.

Area of Taxonomic and Geographic Concentration

The herbarium today emphasizes collections primarily from the Southeastern United States, with a particular focus on the Wiregrass region of southeastern Alabama and southwestern Georgia. It also has significant collections from Illinois, Kentucky, and New Mexico.

Important Collections

Alvin Diamond, Robert Kral, Dan Spaulding, R. D. Worthington, Brian Keener, and Edward Ted Brown.

Services

The Herbarium is available for use by qualified individuals. Specimens are available on loan to recognized botanical institutions engaged in taxonomic research.

Staff

Directors and Curators:

Alvin R. Diamond, Ph.D.
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
210K Math Science Complex
Troy University
Troy, Alabama 36082
Phone: 334 670-3938
Email: adiamond@troy.edu
Research interests: Flora of Alabama, Ericaceae

Michael Woods, Ph.D.
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
210B Math Science Complex
Troy University
Troy, Alabama 36082
Phone: 334 670-3403
Email: mwoods@troy.edu
Research interests: Fabaceae, Flora of Alabama

 

The John D. Freeman Herbarium at Auburn University

The John D. Freeman Herbarium at Auburn University can trace its roots almost back to the foundation of the university itself in 1856. By 1867 the campus boasted a natural history museum that housed botanical collections. Tragically, a fire destroyed the herbarium in 1887 but by 1901 it had grown back to over 40,000 specimens, including important collections from A.H. Curtiss, G.W. Carver, A.B. Langlois, and J. Darby. Sadly, the herbarium was again destroyed by fire in 1920! Despite this set back, the herbarium again emerged from the ashes to reestablish itself as an important state and regional collection. Growth at AUA from 1968--1995 was due to the efforts of the late Dr. John D. Freeman, who took the herbarium from obscurity to national recognition and quintupled the number of holdings. In 1995, Auburn University acquired the St. Bernard herbarium (SB), an important historical collection of about 5000 sheets, from Cullman County, Alabama. Label data from the main vascular plant collections are entered in a searchable database and so far, over 25,000 sheets have been imaged in a project to create a virtual herbarium soon to be searchable online. The herbarium is used for research and teaching.

Location

Physical Address:
The Freeman Herbarium is located in 262 Biodiversity Learning Center (M.W. Smith Hall) on the Auburn University campus, Auburn, AL.

Phone: (334) 844-1630
Fax: (334) 844-1645

Mailing Address:

The John D. Freeman Herbarium (AUA)
Dept. of Biological Sciences
101 Rouse Life Sciences Bldg.
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama 36849

website:  http://aumnh.org/research-collections/plants/

Hours of Operation

The herbarium is open by appointment, generally Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM.

Collections

The Freeman Herbarium contains over 80,000 specimens including vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and fungi. The herbarium also houses over 26 holotype or isotype specimens.

Area of Taxonomic and Geographic Concentration

Collections are primarily from Alabama and the southeastern US but also include plants from around the world. Recent international exchanges have begun to greatly diversify the plant holdings and broaden the worldwide geographic representation in the herbarium.

Important Collections

Historical: Elizabeth F. Andrews, Alvan W. Chapman, and Wolfgang Wolf.
Recent: Virginia E. Crouch, Alvin R. Diamond, Jr., John D. Freeman, Scott C. Gunn, Curtis J. Hansen, Robert Kral, Harold D. Moore, David W. Rutland, Ann H. Sessler and John W. Short.

Services

The Herbarium is available for research, by appointment, to qualified individuals. Specimens are available for loan to recognized botanical institutions engaged in taxonomic research. Limited exchange programs are available. A limited amount of plant identification services may be arranged. Brief tours of the herbarium are available to smaller groups (home school or church groups, boy scouts, girl scouts, garden clubs, etc.). Also, the Curator is available to give a power point presentation to your organization about what the role, use and function of a herbarium.

Staff

Director:
Leslie R. Goertzen
Dept. of Biological Sciences
101 Life Sciences Bldg.
Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849

email: goertlr@auburn.edu
research interests: plant evolutionary systematics

Curator:
Curtis J. Hansen
Dept. of Biological Sciences
101 Life Sciences Bldg.
Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849

email: hansecj@auburn.edu
research interests: lichens of Alabama, flora of Alabama, Asteraceae

 

The University of West Alabama Herbarium

The UWAL Herbarium was established in the 1930s by Dr. Alda May Speith. The early collections primarily documented the local flora in Sumter County and served as a teaching collection. Growth of the collections was modest for decades until the 1990s and 2000s when growth became rapid spurred initially by Dr. Richard Holland and several students and currently with the collections and subsequent exchange of collections by Dr. Brian Keener. The collection primarily documents the Black Belt region of Alabama with a fair representation of other areas of Alabama. An active exchange program has aided in diversifying the collections.

Location

The UWAL Herbarium is located in 108A in Bibb Graves Hall on The University of West Alabama campus.

Phone: (205) 652-3796
Fax: (205) 652-3831

Mailing Address:

The Herbarium (UWAL)
University of West Alabama
Station 7
Livingston, Alabama 35470

website:

Hours of Operation

The herbarium is open by appointment.

Collections

The UWAL Herbarium is curates over 30,000  specimens.

Area of Taxonomic and Geographic Concentration

The herbarium today emphasizes collections from primarily the Black Belt region but also has good representation from the rest of Alabama.

Important Collections

Alvin Diamond, Robert Kral, Daniel D. Spaulding, J. Kevin England, and Brian Keener.

Services

The Herbarium is available for use by qualified individuals. Specimens are available on loan to recognized botanical institutions engaged in taxonomic research.

Staff

Director and Curator:

Brian R. Keener, Ph.D.
University of West Alabama
Station 7
Livingston, Alabama 35470

email: bkeener@uwa.edu
research interests: Alismataceae, Flora of Alabama

 

Jacksonville State University Herbarium

The JSU Herbarium was established in the late 1960’s by Dr. Ken E. Landers and Dr. Jerry A. Clonts, and early collections primarily documented the flora of Northeastern Alabama. Throughout the 1980’s until the present, Dr. R. David Whetstone and his students grew the herbarium to over 60,000 specimens.

Location

Physical Address:

The JSU Herbarium is located in 144 Martin Hall on the Jacksonville State University campus in Jacksonville, AL.

Phone:(256) 782-5215
Fax: (256) 782-5587

Mailing Address:

JSU Herbarium (JSU)
Department of Biology
700 Pelham Road North
Jacksonville, Alabama 36265-1602

Hours of Operation

The herbarium is generally open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM, or other times by appointment.

Collections

The Jacksonville State University Herbarium contains over 60,000 specimens including vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens.

Area of Taxonomic and Geographic Concentration

Collections are primarily from Alabama and the southeastern US but also include plants from around the world, including numerous collections from East Asia (China and Japan).

Services

The Herbarium is available for use by qualified individuals. Specimens are available on loan to recognized botanical institutions engaged in taxonomic research. A limited amount of plant identification services may be arranged. Tours of the herbarium are available to groups. The Curator is available to give presentations to your organization about plant diversity and the role, use and function of a herbarium.

Staff

Curator:
Jimmy K. Triplett
Department of Biology
700 Pelham Road North
Jacksonville, Alabama 36265-1602

email: jtriplett@jsu.edu

research interests: flora of Alabama, Poaceae, bamboo systematics, molecular phylogenetics

Anniston Museum of Natural History Herbarium

The Anniston Museum of Natural History Herbarium

The AMAL herbarium was established in the 1980’s by Daniel D. Spaulding. The first collections mostly documented the local flora of Calhoun County. In the 1990’s this herbarium grew to include specimens from the southeastern U.S. especially Alabama.

Location

The AMAL Herbarium is located in the Anniston Museum of Natural History collections storage area.

Phone: (256) 237-6766
Fax: (256) 237-6776

Mailing Address:

Anniston Museum of Natural History
800 Museum Drive/PO Box 1587
Anniston, Alabama 36202

Website: http://www.annistonmuseum.org

Hours of Operation

Monday: closed to the public
Tuesday- Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday: 1 pm – 5 pm

Collections

The AMAL Herbarium curates 17,000 + specimens.

Area of Taxonomic and Geographic Concentration

The herbarium today emphasizes collections from northeast Alabama but also has good representation from the rest of Alabama.

Important Collections

T. Wayne Barger (Forever Wild Tracts); Alvin Diamond (South Alabama); Brian Keener (Alabama); Robert Kral (Alabama); Robert F.C. Naczi (Carex); Dan Spaulding (North Alabama), and Steve J. Threlkeld (Madison County, Alabama).

Services

The Herbarium is available for use by qualified individuals. Specimens are available on loan to recognized botanical institutions engaged in taxonomic research.

Staff

Curator:

Daniel D. Spaulding

Email: dspaulding@annistonmuseum.org
Research interests: Amaranthus; Crataegus; Gamochaeta; Poaceae; Sisyrinchium; and Flora of Alabama

 

Samford University Herbarium

 The SAMF Herbarium was established in the 1950s by the lichenologist Dr. Herbert A. McCullough.  Most of the herbarium’s early collections of vascular plants were made during McCullough’s lichen collecting trips to Alaska and the Rocky Mountains; others are local flora collections by his students.  Before his retirement in 1985, McCullough sent his lichen collections to museums in Europe, leaving a vascular plant collection of only 1100 specimens.  That collection has now grown to about 5000 specimens.

 Location

 The SAMF Herbarium is located in 138 Propst Hall on the Samford University campus.

 Phone:  (205) 726-2584

Fax:  (205) 726-2479

 Mailing Address:

The Herbarium (SAMF)
Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences
800 Lakeshore Drive
Birmingham, AL 35229

Hours of Operation

The SAMF Herbarium is open by appointment.

Collections

 The SAMF Herbarium currently consists of about 5000 specimens.

Areas of Geographic and Taxonomic Concentration

Most of the SAMF collections are from central Alabama.  The herbarium also emphasizes aquatic plants, especially duckweeds and Hymenocallis coronaria (the Cahaba Lily) of the southeastern United States.

Important Collections

Herbert A. McCullough and students, L. J. Davenport and students.

Services

 The SAMF Herbarium is available for use by qualified individuals.  Specimens are available on loan to recognized botanical institutions and entities.

Staff

Director and Curator:

L. J. Davenport, Ph.D.
Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences
Samford University
800 Lakeshore Drive
Birmingham, AL 35229
 

Phone:  (205) 726-2584
Email:  ljdavenp@samford.edu

Research interests:  aquatic plants, duckweeds, Hymenocallis coronaria, history of botany

The ADCNR herbarium was established in 2010 by Dr. T. Wayne Barger in an effort to maintain a working  collection of every species historic or extant known to occur in Alabama.

Location

The ALNHS Herbarium is located on the fourth floor (Room 451) of the Folsom Administration Building in downtown Montgomery.

Phone: (334) 353-7997

Fax: (334) 242-0999

Mailing Address:

T. Wayne Barger, Ph.D.
ADCNR, State Lands Division
Natural Heritage Section
64 North Union St., Suite 451
Montgomery, Alabama 36130
 

Website: No Website

Hours of Operation

The herbarium is open by appointment only.

Collections

The ALNHS Herbarium curates 8,000 specimens of vascular plants.

Areas of Taxonomic and Geographic Concentration

The herbarium almost exclusively curates collection from Alabama, with an emphasis on State-Owned Property inventory.

Important Collections

Wayne Barger, John MacDonald, Howard Horne, Charles Bryson, Rob Naczi, State-Owned Properties

Staff

Director and Curator:

T. Wayne Barger, Ph.D.
ADCNR, State Lands Division
Natural Heritage Section
64 North Union St., Suite 451
Montgomery, Alabama 36130
Box 870345The Herbarium (UNA)The Herbarium (UNA)

Phone: (334) 353-7997

Email: wayne.barger@dcnr.alabama.gov
Research interests: Flora of Alabama, Forever Wild Inventories