New Location for Fungus Herbarium at NYBG

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    At the end of January 2000, the herbarium staff finished moving the fungal collection from the Museum Building into the new state-of-the-art Plant Studies Center (PSC). This building will house the entire herbarium collection as well as the LuEsther T. Mertz Library. Currently, NYBG has approximately 500,000 fungal specimens. The new fungus herbarium, located in one room on the 5th floor of the new PSC, comes complete with a climate-controlled environment. This is optimal for combating beetles and inhibiting the growth of molds on specimens. The room, which will be maintained at a temperature of ±50 °F, is free of windows so that the specimens are protected from sunlight and excess moisture.

    To move the fungi from the Museum Building into the PSC, specimens were transferred into an herbarium cabinet on wheels and pushed into the new building, where they were unloaded into their new cabinets. The move from the Museum Building into the PSC has resulted in a 40% expansion capacity for the fungal specimens, which should provide space for growth for at least 20 years. Presently, we are expanding the collections throughout this additional space. The entire fungal collection is housed in a mobile storage system, which greatly reduces the amount of floor space needed.

    In addition, three new visitors' offices exist adjacent to the fungus herbarium. These offices come complete with computers, an internet connection, microscopes, and storage space.  For information on how to get to the Garden click here.  For herbarium visitor information, click here.