ARIZ Plant Specimen Collection
The University of Arizona Herbarium (ARIZ) houses a research collection of over 400,000 dried plant specimens from around the world. The primary focus of this collection is the plants of Arizona. Also well-represented are the adjacent states of the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico.
ARIZ is the largest herbarium in the southwestern United States and the largest collection in the world of plants from Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.
Organization of the collection
Our holdings of seed plants are organized following the Dalla Torre and Harms system at the family level, alphabetically by genus within families, and alphabetically by species within genera. Ferns and fern allies are shelved alphabetically by genus.
Within species, specimens are grouped in color-coded folders by region, as follows:
Yellow - Arizona
Pink - United States (excluding Arizona), Canada & Greenland
Green - Mexico and the remainder of the Americas, including Caribbean Islands
Brown - Old World
White - Cultivate specimens, regardless of region
Exceptions are noted prominently at the appropriate locations in the herbarium.
In addition to the regular collection, types are stored separately, as is the boxed collection of large fruits and cones. There is also a collection of seeds, and small holdings of bryophytes and lichens.
Online specimen databases
As of July 2007, over one third (152,000) of our total collection of more than 400,000 specimens and close to 98% of all Arizona specimens have been databased.
You can access this information over the internet at the following sites:
ARIZ Specimen database - NEW! - Search all databased specimens at ARIZ directly via this website!
SEINET Specimen Search Engine - Search multiple southwestern herbaria via a single web portal.
Herbarium questions or comments: herbarium@ag.arizona.edu
Website inquiries: Webmaster
© 2008 University of Arizona | Revised 10 April 2008
