Research & Collections :: Collections at the State Museum :: Biology

The bryologycollection includes mosses, liverworts, and hornworts and itserves to document these plant groups as they are represented inthe New York State flora. The total number of specimens is29,292, and the specimens are stored in 4 x 6" packets,filed vertically in boxes. The collection is organized into thefollowing categories: (1) New York State, (2) North America otherthan New York, (3) the world other than North America. Data from30% of the collection has been put in computer storage, and theNYS Bryophyte Database is increased regularly by data associatedwith new accessions of New York State and other North Americancollections. While most of the bryophyte collection is from NewYork, also included are significant holdings from other parts ofthe United States and from other countries. The collection isarranged alphabetically by genus and species and thengeographically within the following categories: mosses,liverworts, and hornworts.

The BryophyteHerbarium has had a long history, and accordingly it housesnumerous collections dating from the 1800s. Important historicalcollections include specimens from Coe Finch Austin, Elizabeth G.Britton, George W. Clinton, Roy Latham, John M. Macoun, and W. H.Wiegmann, as well as the major collections assembled by formercurators Charles H. Peck and Stanley J. Smith. Contemporaryworkers depositing materials in the collection include B. Allen,R. E. Andrus, H. Crum, R. R. Ireland, E. H. Ketchledge, L.Leonardi, N. G. Miller, and W. R. Town . An exciting recentdiscovery in the Herbarium was a set of mosses and liverwortspecimens prepared by Lewis Caleb Beck in about 1830. Thiscollection, a series of books long attributed to Charles H.Peck, appears to be one of the first of its kind in the Americas.It is being studied to determine who contributed to it and thegeographic regions it represents.