Brief History of the University of Arizona Herbarium
The University of Arizona Herbarium is as old as the university itself.
When U of A first opened its doors in students in October of 1891, the herbarium was located in Old Main and consisted of 700 native plant specimens from southern and central Arizona. Since that time, the collections have grown to over 350,000 plant specimens and over 100,000 mycological specimens.
Not only is ARIZ the largest herbarium in AZ, but it contains the largest collection of any herbarium in the world of plants from the Sonoran Desert region (Arizona, Sonora, and adjacent desert areas of California and Baja California). ARIZ also contains significant collections of plants from other regions of Mexico, and is home to numerous important historical collections, many dating back to the early 1800s.
Some important dates:
- 1890 - James W. Toumey starts ARIZ with a collection of 700 Arizona plants
- 1891 - Herbarium opens, original housed in Old Main
- 1901 - John J. Thornber replaces J.W. Toumey as Director of Herbarium
- Early 1900s - Herbarium moves in Science Hall, later know as the Liberal Arts Annex
- 1936 - Herbarium moves in Forbes (Agricultural Building)
- 1937 - Lyman Benson joins herbarium as Thornber's assistant
- 1944 - Frank Gould becomes Director while Thornber enters semi-retirement
- 1944 - 30,000 personal specimens of Forrest Shreve are acquired by herbarium
- 1949 - Kittie Parker becomes Director
- 1951 - Frank Gould publishes Grasses of the Southwest
- 1952 - Robert Peebles collection is acquired from the USDA Cotton Station in Sacaton
- 1953 - Charles T. Mason becomes Director
- 1955 - 15,000 Leslie M. Goodding specimens are acquired from Soil Conservation Services
- 1962 - Herbarium moves into Shantz
- 1989 - H.S. Gentry Herbarium acquired
- 1992 - Lucinda McDade becomes Director; Phil Jenkins joins staff as Curatorial Specialist.
- 2001 - Steve McLaughlin becomes Director
- 2004 - Herbarium moves to current location in Herring Hall
- 2006 - Shelley McMahon becomes Director
Herbarium questions or comments: herbarium@ag.arizona.edu
Website inquiries: Webmaster
© 2008 University of Arizona | Revised 10 April 2008
