THE  GRAY  HERBARIUM  OF  HARVARD 
UNIVERSITY 
The  Gray  Herbarium  is  one  of  the  landmarks  in  American 
science.  It  acquired  its  initial  importance  under  the  direction  of 
the  illustrious  Asa  Gray  at  a  time  when  the  American  continent  was 
being  first  explored  in  a  scientific  way  by  government  expeditious 
and  by  many  enthusiastic  private  collectors.  Great  numbers  of 
plants  were  described  in  new  genera  and  species,  records  were 
made  of  ranges ;  these  records  and  many  of  the  type  specimens  are 
preserved  in  the  Herbarium.  They  are  the  most  important  source 
of  information  on  the  exact  identity  of  the  genera  and  species  they 
represent,  and  are,  of  course,  now  invaluable.  The  institution  is 
replete  with  associations  and  its  historic  importance  is  outstanding. 
Extent  of  the  Collection. — The  Herbarium  now  includes  more 
than  725,000  specimens  of  plants.  It  has  for  many  years  been  the 
most  valuable  collection  of  its  kind  in  America,  and  has  contributed, 
through  the  publications  of  its  staff,  more  than  any  other  establish¬ 
ment  to  the  knowledge  of  American  plants. 
Scientific  Services.  —  It  is  one  of  the  regular  duties  of  the 
Herbarium  staff  to  answer  gratuitously  botanical  questions  received, 
and  to  give  an  expert  opinion  upon  the  identity  of  plants  (herbaceous 
as  well  as  woody,  foreign  as  well  as  native)  submitted  to  it.  In  this 
way  the  Herbarium  renders  valuable  service  in  the  various  branches 
of  applied  botany,  such  as  pharmacy,  horticulture,  agriculture,  and 
forestry,  since  in  all  these  an  accurate  classification  of  plants  is  of 
great  importance.  The  Herbarium  is  constantly  visited  by  mono¬ 
graphers,  research  specialists,  explorers,  and  government  agricultural 
experts,  who  come  again  and  again  to  consult  its  reference  material, 
extensive  records  and  invaluable  library. 
Constant  Growth  of  the  Collection.  —  In  order  to  keep  abreast 
with  the  present  rapid  advance  of  botanical  exploration  it  is  necessary 
to  add  annually  a  large  number  of  carefully  classified  specimens  to 
the  Herbarium.  Each  year  new  regions  are  explored  botanically 
and  important  sets  of  specimens  are  sold  by  the  collectors.  These 
sets,  including  the  types  of  many  new  species,  must  be  acquired 
when  offered  for  sale,  if  at  all,  since  they  are  quickly  taken  up  by 
large  herbaria.  Should  the  Gray  Herbarium  be  unable  to  secure 
such  sets  of  specimens,  it  would  suffer  the  same  irreparable  loss  as  a 
library  which  is  obliged  temporarily  to  suspend  its  purchases  of 
restricted  editions. 
