The San Diego State University Herbarium (SDSU) is a depository of over 20,000 pressed and mounted plant specimens used in research and teaching. The purpose of these specimens is: 1) to serve as voucher documentation for research projects; 2) to serve as resources for plant identification; and 3) to serve as exemplars in plant courses. In addition, the herbarium both receives and provides loans of plant specimens used in active systematic research. The herbarium collection specializes in land plant specimens from San Diego County, California, and Baja California, with some collections from Australia, Chile, and the south Pacific.

SDSU is a member of the Consortium of California Herbaria. Our records are entirely databased.
Our California records are accessible through Consortium of California Herbaria Search web page
others by request.

The Curator of the SDSU Herbarium is Dr. Michael Simpson, whose primary duty as curator is to oversee the proper maintenance, organization, and use of the collection and to facilitate additions to the herbarium.

The Herbarium is open by appointment only, so please contact us before coming to visit SDSU.
Loans of specimens are available through registered herbaria upon request.


Contact Information:
Dr. Michael G. Simpson, Curator: msimpson@sunstroke.sdsu.edu, 619-594-4479, 619-594-8012