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_Biology
Department UNIVERSITY
OF MINNESOTA DULUTH
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| The Olga Lakela Herbarium is located in rooms 62 and 76, Marshall W. Alworth Hall, University of Minnesota-Duluth. It is an expanding collection of more than 44,000 dried botanical specimens that are housed in standard herbarium cabinets. Almost all of the specimens were collected from populations of native or naturalized vascular plants. In addition, there are small collections of algae, mosses, lichens, and fleshy fungi. Most of the specimens were collected in northeastern Minnesota, including Voyageurs National Park, Grand Portage National Monument, and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Other areas represented include other portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois, Ontario, and Manitoba. The herbarium was founded by and is named for Dr. Olga Lakela (1890-1980), a native of Finland who emigrated to northeastern Minnesota as a child. She earned a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Minnesota and was the first Biology Department Head on the Duluth campus. Approximately half of our specimens were collected by Dr. Lakela, and her extensive work in St. Louis and Lake counties, Minnesota is summarized in her book, A Flora of Northeastern Minnesota (1965, University of Minnesota Press). Olga Lakela founded this herbarium in 1935, and the University named it after her in 1960. A bequest from Dr. Lakela supports the maintenance and growth of the collection, as well as botanical research at UMD. Dr. Paul Monson (1925-2003) succeeded Dr. Lakela as curator after
he earned a Ph.D. in botany from Iowa State University. Thousands
of his specimens, mostly from the north-central United States, are
deposited in this herbarium. |
 Dr. Olga Lakela at the University of Minnesota - Duluth, 1952 |
The collection is notable for its holdings of Canadian - northern U. S. plant species near the southern margin of their geographic range. The oldest specimen in the collection dates from 1846 (Florida), but most are from the 1940s through the present. Plant scientists visit the herbarium for the purpose of examining specimens that are important in their research, or they may arrange for a loan of specimens to be sent to their home institution. Duplicates of specimens collected by UMD botanists are sometimes provided to other herbaria, usually in exchange for specimens we receive from them. The Olga Lakela Herbarium is listed in Index Herbariorum, with its international code being DUL. If you wish to be able to search the DUL speciman database online, write a request to David Schimpf.
Since1990, Lakela Herbarium personnel provided the first documentation for the occurrence of the following species outside of cultivation in their respective states:
Additional information can be found at the University of Minnesota Herbarium (MIN) and the Wisconsin State Herbarium (WIS).
| Other services provided by the Lakela Herbarium staff include the identification
of plants for the general public and for governmental agencies. Identification
is done through comparison with the specimens in the collection, as well
as a technical botanical library that is kept in the herbarium. Specimens
are also used in aid of botanical instruction in the Biology Department.
The staff participates in the preparation of reports on areas where, in
accordance with environmental protection laws, an examination for the
presence of rare/endangered plants must be completed prior to any modification
of the area. In 1997 the Lakela Herbarium published Rare Plants of
Minnesota's Arrowhead, a pocket-size field guide to 56 non-grasslike
species of northeastern Minnesota that were classified in 1996 by the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as Endangered, Threatened, or
of Special Concern. The authors of this book are herbarium associates
Deborah Shubat and Gary Walton. The book includes a dot map and a color
photocopy of a herbarium specimen for each species. This volume is now
out of print. |
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The Director of the Herbarium is Dr. David J. Schimpf, Associate Professor of Biology at UMD. He may be reached at 218/726-7265 or by e-mail at: dschimpf@d.umn.edu. Deborah Pomroy is an Assistant Scientist. She may be reached at 218/726-6542 or by e-mail at: dpomroy@d.umn.edu The herbarium's services are also provided by graduate and undergraduate students. Its mailing address is Department of Biology, 207 Swenson Science Building, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1035 Kirby Drive, Duluth, MN 55812-3004 USA. Telephone: 218/726-6542, FAX: 218/726-8142.
Last Updated
Friday, February 1, 2008 11:51 AM
Last Updated
Friday, February 1, 2008 11:51 AM
