The SDSU Herbarium (acronym SDSU in Index Herbariorum) is a small teaching and research collection of over 20,000 plant herbarium specimens. These herbarium specimens consist of pressed and dried plants, mounted on acid free paper (11.5" x 16.5"), with an attached barcode (accession number) and label, the latter with collection information (taxon, plant characteristics, habitat, locality, latitude/longitude, elevation, collector, collection number, and date of collection). These specimens are used in teaching Economic Botany (Biology 460), Plant Systematics (Biology 530), and Taxonomy of California Plants (Biology 531).

Collections are mostly from southern California, but also from central and northern regions of the state, Baja California, and some southwestern U.S. regions. We have regional collections of Point Loma, Camp Pendleton, Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve and also maintain some research collections from Australia and some southern Pacific islands. The specimens serve as vouchers for research studies and are cited in journal publications. The collection is entirely databased. The SDSU Herbarium is a member of SEINet, and the Consortium of California Herbaria: CCH2 for worldwide records, CCH1 for California only records. For further information about the herbarium collection, please contact the curator, Dr. Michael G. Simpson.

Click on the photo above to be directed to the

official SDSU Herbarium website.