Biology Herbarium

St. Cloud Herbarium Guide

Read all about the regional importance of the SCSU Herbarium in the St. Cloud State University Herbarium Guide.

St. Cloud State University Herbarium Guide

What is a herbarium?

The St. Cloud State University herbarium (herbarium code SCL, https://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/) is an archive, much like a library or a museum. It contains approximately 30,000 pressed, dried plant specimens that serve as primary data sources that document plant species and metadata. Each collection includes the plant specimen (usually from central Minnesota) along with a label that includes locality and collector information.

Check out herbarium?

Why are herbaria useful?

Herbaria contain data that inform a wide variety of studies and interests:

Floristics
Taxonomy and classification of plants
Phenology, or shifts in geographic distribution due to climate change
Plant identification
Historical land use

Staff

Staff in the herbarium are responsible for maintaining the collection. We are in the early stages of digitization; right now, we are over halfway done adding barcode information to each specimen. Be on the lookout for more updates soon!

Kendall Cross, Student Curator
Makayla Michaels, Student Curator
Angela McDonnell, Director

student curators with a plant specimen sample

Student curators Makayla Michael (right) and Kendall Cross (left) have learned how to determine when a specimen needs repairs and where to place barcodes. Here they examine a Magnolia specimen.

a historical collection of plant specimens

An example herbarium cabinet containing the historical collection of specimens donated by Rev. E.V. Campbell and all specimens collected prior to 1930.

A specimen of the Minnesota state flower, Cypripedium reginae, or Showy Lady’s Slipper.

A timeline of events in the SCL herbarium

1886

Reverend E.V. Campbell donates first specimens to St. Cloud State University, known as the Third State Normal School at that time. In total Rev. Campbell donated approximately 300 specimens.

1950-1979

Dr. Max Partch expanded the collection during his time with the university. The SCL collection grew from hundreds of specimens in 1950 to thousands by 1980. His research included prairie ecosystems.

1967-1990s?

Dr. Lester Lindstrom contributed at least 5,000 specimens to the collection during his time at St. Cloud State University.

1980s-1990s?

Dr. Gerald Wheeler gifted many specimens to the St. Cloud State University Herbarium from the University of Minnesota collections. He conducted research in the sedge genus Carex.

1970-1998

Dr. Wayland Ezell grew the botanical library housed at SCL. We assume that Dr. Ezell used the herbarium specimens to teach his classes and grew the collection.

1998-2022

Dr. Jorge Arriagada maintained and expanded the collection through his curation efforts and collections of Clibadium specimens from Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador. Dr. Matthew Julius establishes and grows the collection of diatoms affiliated with the collection, which contrains important type specimens.

2022-Present

Dr. Angela McDonnell assumes directorship and hired Makayla Michael and Kendall Cross as student curators to start digitization efforts. Stay tuned for new developments as we grow and develop the approximately 30,000 specimen collection.