UMaine’s herbarium mentioned in Press Herald article on curating plant collection
The University of Maine’s herbarium was mentioned in the Portland Press Herald article, “Volunteers at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens’ herbarium help curate its collection.” Herbariums like the one at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay get a regular infusion of new plants from researchers and volunteers collecting in the field. So the herbarium is like a living plant library, constantly adding new material and growing, the article states. Maine has a half-dozen herbariums of note. UMaine’s herbarium is probably the largest, with 50,000 specimens of vascular (higher) plants representing 2,000 species. The collection also includes fungi, algae, mosses, and so many lichens that they have their own room, according to the article. UMaine started its database 25 years ago. Information on all of its collections is now databased and available on national websites. The university started imaging in 2014, using two of the National Science Foundation grants to pay for photographing the vascular plants and fungi. The University of Maine at Machias also has an herbarium, the Press Herald reported.