University and Jepson Herbaria

Herbaria are collections of preserved, documented plant specimens that are irreplaceable physical records of biodiversity: structural and chemical variation, biogeographic distribution, and ecology. With a current combined total of about 2,200,000 accessioned specimens at UC Berkeley, the University Herbarium (UC) and Jepson Herbarium (JEPS) represent the largest collection of herbarium material west of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the largest at a public university in the United States. All plant groups are represented in UC, which has a worldwide scope and particular strengths in marine algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes and flowering plants. JEPS comprises a separate, privately endowed collection of about 96,000 specimens of vascular plants of California. In addition to the collections, the Herbaria contain supporting library and archive materials as well as modern laboratories for all types of plant studies, ranging from morphology/anatomy to cytogenetics to DNA sequencing.