University of Florida Herbarium (FLAS)

The University of Florida Herbarium (FLAS) contains ca. 500,000 specimens. The earliest specimens date to the early 1800s. The geographic coverage is worldwide in scope, with emphasis on the southern USA and Neotropics. The FLAS acronym is the Index Herbariorum abbreviation, derived from its early association with the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. The herbarium was established in 1891 by Peter H. Rolfs of Florida Agricultural College in Lake City, and later moved to the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1906. The vascular plant collection (ca. 320,000 specimens) includes significant holdings of J.R. Abbott, A.W. Chapman, A.H. Curtiss, A. Cuthbert, R.L. Dressler, A.P. Garber, A.K. Gholson, S.C. Hood, H.H. Hume, W.S. Judd, W.A. Murrill, P.H. Rolfs, F. Rugel, J.K. Small, E.P. St. John, R.P. St. John, D.B. Ward, E. West, and W.M. Whitten. The bryophyte collection (ca. 70,000 specimens) and lichen collection (ca. 16,000 specimens) include many from W.W. Calkins, D.G. Griffin III, W.S. Judd, J.B. McFarlin, S. Rapp, R. Rosentreter, and J.K. Small. The wood collection (ca. 16,000 specimens) includes many tropical woods. The algal collection includes ca. 3,500 specimens, mainly from Florida. The Fungal Herbarium contains ca. 55,000 specimens (non-lichenized fungi and slime molds), including many of W.A. Murrill and zygomycetes of R.K. Benjamin and G. Benny. The digitization effort has been supported by the Florida Museum of Natural History, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agriculture (Hatch Project FLAS-HRB-04170), UF Libraries Digital Library Center, Florida Center for Library Automation, Florida Museum Associates, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This digital dataset serves the vascular plant collection, of which ca. 2/3 are digitized, including ca. 500 type specimens (holo-, lecto-, iso-, neo-, syn-, or epi-types).