Collections
Description
The Colorado State
University Herbarium (CS) is the third largest collection of plants and
the oldest herbarium in the southern Rocky Mountain region and has an excellent
representation of the Colorado Flora. It serves as a regional center for
plant systematic research and receives about four hundred visitors per
year. The CSU Herbarium contains approximately 75,000 specimens of vascular
plants, primarily from Colorado. It is from this collection that Harold
D. Harrington, one of the former curators, compiled his well known Manual
Of The Plants Of Colorado, published in 1954.
The herbarium also has a large collection of plant identification keys from Colorado and other areas, and an extensive collection of reprints on floristics and systematics. Patrons are welcome to use any of these resources while visiting the herbarium. An especially valuable resource available to researchers is the herbarium's database. This database contains complete records for 50,000 specimens.
The mission of the herbarium is to facilitate research, teaching, and public service. It is especially concerned with the documentation of Colorado's vascular flora, including the natural variation based on geographic and ecological distribution.
Researchers primarily use the herbarium to aid in the investigations of regional floristic diversity, preservation of rare or endangered plant species, preparation of systematic monographs, and studies of evolutionary and ecological processes. Students of plant identification use the herbarium's collection to confirm their species identifications.
The herbarium houses specimens deposited by, or belonging to, The Nature Conservancy, The Rocky Mountain Heritage Program, The Colorado Natural Heritage Program, The National Park Service and the CSU Herbarium
Significance
The Colorado State University Herbarium is recognized internationally through listing by the International Organization of Plant Taxonomy (Index Herbariorum, Edition 8), which identifies and serves as a directory of the major research herbaria throughout the world. In 1974, the herbarium was designated a Natural Resource Collection by a committee of the National Science Foundation (Systematic Botany Resources in America, Part 1. New York Botanical Garden, 1974). Such collections, numbering about 105 throughout the U.S., were designated on the basis of scientific significance, representation of a particular area, and professional activity of associated staff members.Important collections include those by J. Cassidy, J. H. Cowen, C.S. Crandall, and H.D. Harrington. The CSU Herbarium has an excellent representation of the Colorado flora as well as the flora of the southern Rocky Mountain region. The well known Manual of the Plant of Colorado by Harrington (1954) was based primarily on this collection.
Acquisition of Species
General responsibility
for accepting new acquisitions rests with the Curator. The herbarium is
a depository for voucher specimens from research projects of the faculty,
staff, and graduate students at Colorado State University. It has been
a major depository (with the University of Colorado Museum) of collections
made by the Colorado Natural
Heritage Program, the Nature Conservancy,
the Colorado Natural Areas Program, and the National
Parks Service units in Colorado. Specimens with high quality can be
deposited at CS from other researchers, investigators, and private collectors.
The focus of Colorado State University Herbarium is Colorado flora. A map is available which details how many specimens per county are at CS. Voucher specimens collected outside Colorado through research projects by CSU faculty, staff, and graduate students are generally accepted if the collections meet the quality requirement. Plant specimens collected from the Southern Rockies by other organizations can be accepted upon the approval from the Curator.
In order to be acceptable for accession, specimens must meet the following criteria:
- Specimens must be of identifiable quality
- Specimens should have enough material to spread on a herbarium sheet; and herbaceous plants should generally bear roots, stems, leaves, and reproductive organs.
- The specimens should be well labeled and include complete collection data.
- The nature of the specimens must be consistent with the goals of the herbarium (Collections).
- Specimens collected without appropriate permits are not accepted.
Loans
The collections of the Colorado State University Herbarium are available for study by all qualified investigators. All requests of loans should be addressed to the curator. The herbarium only loans its material to institutions, not to individuals. Loans are made generally for 12 months. Extensions of the loan period may be granted upon request to the curator. Transfers of loans may be made with the permission of the curator.The Colorado State Herbarium requires the returning loan be packed carefully to avoid damaging the specimens. The herbarium expects the investigator to annotate each sheet of the loan with annotation labels and acknowledge CS in any publications resulting from using the CS collections. Reprints of any publications are requested.