The
Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of
Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue,
Cambridge, Massachusetts. The is one of three which comprise the
Harvard Museum of Natural History.
The
Herbaria, founded in 1842 by
Asa Gray, are one of the 10 largest in the world with over 5 million specimens, and including the Botany Libraries, form the world's largest university owned herbarium. HUH hosts the as well as an extensive specimen, botanist, and publications . HUH was the center for botanical research in the
United States of America by the time of its founder's retirement in the 1870s. The materials deposited there are one of the three major sources for the
International Plant Names Index.
The was founded in 1858. It was originally called the
Museum of Vegetable Products and was predominantly focused on an interdisciplinary study of useful plants (i.e.
economic botany and
horticulture). The nucleus of materials for this museum was donated by Sir
William Hooker, the Director of the
Royal Botanic Garden at
Kew.
George Lincoln Goodalle became the museum's first director in
1888; under his direction the building was completed in
1890 and provided both research facilities and public exhibit space, which were the botanical complement to the "
Agassiz"
Museum of Comparative Zoology. Three successive directors substantially enlarged the collections of economic products,
medicinal plants,......
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