Division of Biology and Medicine
Brown University Herbarium

Brown University Herbarium

Rhode Island’s premiere collection of botanical specimens.

A Fertile Ground for Science

Home to over 100,000 specimens and an active site of research and learning, the Brown University Herbarium (BRU) is proud to be the largest holder of specimens collected in Rhode Island. The herbarium also houses specimens from all 50 US states and over 100 countries, with particularly rich collections from across New England and western and southern North America. The collections continue to grow thanks to the contributions of student collectors, professional botanists, community scientists, and gifts from other herbaria. 

100,000+

Botanical Specimens

100

Countries represented in collections

77,000

Vascular Plants

Brown University is on the traditional homeland of the Narragansett people. Our herbarium collections come from lands of the Narragansett, Wampanoag, Pokanoket, Nipmuc, and many more Indigenous peoples across the Americas and beyond.

We respectfully acknowledge all the native peoples who occupied and cared for the lands that produced the plants in our collections.