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History of LSU Herbaria

Founded in 1869, the Shirley C. Tucker Herbarium at Louisiana State University is the oldest collection of preserved plant specimens in the Gulf South and is the second largest collection of Louisiana plants. Originally composed entirely of specimens of vascular plants, LSU's herbaria now also include fine collections of lichens and fungi, as well as bryophytes and algae. In all, the LSU Herbaria contain ca. 180,000 specimens, with over 40,000 lichens (the largest lichen collection in the Gulf Region) and ca. 25,000 fungi (the second-largest collection of its kind in this region). The fungal collection, named the Bernard Lowy Mycological Herbarium, is rich in Neotropical wood-decaying fungi. Gulf Coast plants, lichens, and bryophtyes are well represented in the collections. The LSU Herbaria are an essential resource for research, teaching, and public service. Related publications cover topics such as wildflowers of Louisiana, ecology of Gulf Coast marshes, medicinal plants of the Gulf South, systematics of Asteraceae, conservation of tropical rain forests, lichen biodiversity, floral development, and more.

Shirley Tucker, Bernard Lowy, and Clair Brown

 

A revitalization of the herbarium in the 1990's was helped by several events. In 1991, the herbarium received a large grant from the State of Louisiana to computerize the collections, and this work is an ongoing project. Dr. Tom Wendt (now at U of Texas), a specialist in Mexican rain forest trees, joined the herbarium in the same year as Associate Director. Dr. Mark Mayfield (now at Kansas State), and subsequently Dr. Diane Ferguson, continued as associate directors at LSU into the new millenium. A series of National Science Foundation awards begun in 2009, lead to completed databases for the herbaria's North American collections under guidance of the new collections manager.

Commissioned by LSU in 1976 and completed in 1991, a series of watercolor drawings by the internationally known botanical artist MargaretStones of England commemorated the bicentennial year. Lowell Urbatsch, Director of the LSU Herbarium, provided the botanical text. This work was supported by many local Louisianians and carried out in conjunction with LSU Herbarium personnel.

In 1992, the Clair Brown Memorial Endowment was established, being named after the long-time Director of the Herbarium and author of Wildflowers of Louisiana and Adjoining States, Trees of Louisiana, and many other botanical works. This fund is growing through private contributions and provides income entirely for herbarium use. The Herbarium also boasts a rapidly growing herbarium library which includes the very fine collections donated by Clair Brown, Bernard Lowy, Shirley Tucker, Samuel Meyers, Meredith Blackwell, and Florence Givens. The herbarium library is complemented by important botanical works in the LSU Middleton Library, including many rare works in the outstanding Special Collections housed in the adjacent Hill Memorial Library.