The University of Florida Herbarium is a unit of the Department of Natural History of the Florida Museum of Natural History. The herbarium is affiliated with the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Department of Botany and the Department of Plant Pathology. The FLAS acronym is the standard international abbreviation for the University of Florida Herbarium. It is derived from the herbarium's early association with the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
Our mission focuses in plant collections acquisition and care, research based on the collections, education and public service.
Collections / Policies
The herbarium and the associated paleobotanical collection have combined holdings of approximately 1/2 million specimens.
Research / People
Herbarium staff and students participate in diverse projects spanning traditional morphological plant systematics, floristics, plant anatomy, molecular analysis and pollination ecology. Our major focus areas include the plant families Orchidaceae, Ericaceae and Melastomataceae, Angiosperm family phylogeny, Florida floristic inventories and cultivated plant systematics.
- research projects
- people (contact info.)
- Soltis lab (affiliated program)
Databases / Imaging
Our computer databases and image galleries are being developed with a thematic focus. The collections catalog includes ca. 40,000 searchable specimens. Digital image sets include the herbarium's type specimens, potentially invasive, insectivorous, poisonous and endangered plants of Florida and the Floristic Inventory of Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.
