Contact Info and Hours

Visiting the Herbarium

Volunteer & Internship Program

Research & Field Activities

WTU History

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Links and Related Sites
 
Burke Museum Home Page
 
Last Updated:
 9/02/04
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The University of Washington Herbarium (WTU) is an international resource for botanical research.  Established in 1880 by O.B. Johnson at the Washington Territorial University (now the University of Washington), WTU is the largest herbarium in the Pacific Northwest.  For the purposes of our collections, the Pacific Northwest includes the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and western Montana, and the southern portion of Canada's British Columbia province. 
 

Plant diversity is high in the Pacific Northwest due to the wide range of habitats encountered here.  The Olympic Peninsula, Coast Ranges, Columbia River Basin, Cascade Mountains, Puget Trough, and Willamette Valley are some of the important physiographic provinces of the region.  Dramatic differences in elevation, precipitation and soil types among these provinces generate tremendous botanical diversity. 

                                                                                      (Scutellaria angustifolia)
WTU currently houses over half a million dried specimens of vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, algae, lichens, and fungi.  Over 60% of the collections originate from within the Pacific Northwest, and an additional 20% comes from other parts of western North America.  The vascular plant collection expands each year by approximately 5,000 specimens through WTU-sponsored collecting trips, WTU's participation in botanical research expeditions, and an active exchange program.  In 2002, WTU joined the Natural Sciences Division of the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. 

Databasing of the vascular plant collections began in February 2002.  Label data for over 19,000 specimens were entered into the database as part of a collaborative project between the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Washington State Natural Heritage Program.  Additional data entry is ongoing. The database is web accessible, fully searchable, and is accompanied by a mapping program showing county-level distributions for taxa collected in Washington based on specimens housed at WTU. 

WTU is open to the public.  First-time visitors are encouraged to contact the Collections Manager prior to visiting so that they can receive proper orientation to the facilities.

Herbarium Location: 30 Hitchcock Hall (Floor -1)

Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Thursday
Fridays by appointment only

e-mail: wtu@u.washington.edu

Mailing address:
Herbarium
University of Washington
Box 355325
Seattle, WA  98195-5325

Phone: 206-543-1682
FAX: 206-685-1728

Director: Richard G. Olmstead
email: olmstead@u.washington.edu

Collections Manager: David Giblin
email: dgiblin@u.washington.edu