Harvard University
Botanical libraries, archives and specimen collections that help researchers trace plant names and historical botanical records.
Why this organization appears in Hoya Library
Botanical libraries, archives and specimen collections that help researchers trace plant names and historical botanical records.
Botanical literature and collections
Harvard University preserves botanical literature, archives and plant specimens through its specialist research collections. Its Botany Libraries, housed within Harvard University Herbaria, bring together five research libraries with books, journals, manuscripts, field notes and correspondence. These resources offer ways to trace the publications and historical records behind plant names.[1]
Finding botanical records
The Herbaria’s digital collections provide routes to specimen records, a botanist database and an index of botanical publications. The botanist database covers botanical authors and specimen collectors; the publication index helps identify references used in collection records.[2]
When following a specimen citation, retain its particular herbarium acronym and accession details. Harvard’s institutional history explains that its collections are administered together, while individual sheets retain the identity of the herbarium to which they belong.[3]
Sources and research links
- Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries. Botany Libraries. Collections and research scope; checked 25 October 2026.
- Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries. Digital Collections. Specimens, Botanists and Publications sections; checked 25 October 2026.
- Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries. History. Collection integration and specimen citation guidance; checked 25 October 2026.