UI Herbarium

Did you know the University of Iowa had a herbarium? Did you know it was part of the UI Museum of Natural History? The Herbarium was established by Charles White in the Cabinet of Natural History (now the Museum of Natural History). The Cabinet of Natural History and Herbarium were housed in the Old Capitol building around 1869. It was the first Herbarium in the state! In 1880, Thomas Macbride became the first Professor of Botany and Curator of the Herbarium. For the next 55 years, Macbride and Bohumil Shimek contributed more than 25,000 specimens, and most were collected in Iowa. The Herbarium was a repository for dried and fossil plant specimens from all over the world, but the primary focus was Iowa and North America. The Herbarium was one of the largest in the United States, and housed the only major collection of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, hornworts) and fossils in the state.

Despite its vital resource for students, staff, and faculty and historical significance, the University of Iowa closed the Herbarium in April of 2004. The collection was taken to Iowa State University Herbarium….or that’s what we thought! The UI Biology Department was clearing out a classroom, and invited us to see if we wanted/needed anything for our teaching collection or the education department. While we were rummaging through things, we discovered a dried Fibra Satanta specimen from Guatemala. This plant once belonged in our Herbarium and now it’s back at the Museum!

-Written by Assistant Education Coordinator Ashlee Gloede