Huntington Botanical Gardens Herbarium
Exotic Plant Depository Aids in Research and Identification
The Huntington Botanical Gardens Herbarium (HNT) was founded in the 1960’s by Myron Kimnach, director of the botanical gardens from 1962 to 1986. It is a depository of mostly exotic plant specimens used in research and teaching. The purpose of these specimens is to serve as voucher documentation for research projects, and as resources for plant identification. With over 10,000 specimens, it is an archive of vascular plants from around the world, with particular emphasis on plants from Mexico, Central America and South America. Important collections include those of F. Boutin, J. P. Folsom, D. R. Hodel, D. de Laubenfels, M. Kimnach and R. Moran. Plant families well-represented include Arecaceae, Cactaceae, Crassulaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and desert plants worldwide. In addition, the herbarium receives and provides loans of plant specimens used in active systematic research.
In 2009, The Huntington received the Pasadena City College herbarium (PASA) on permanent loan. It encompasses roughly 3,000 specimens, mostly collected in the early 19th century in North America. In 2010, the de Laubenfels research collection was donated to the herbarium, representing one of the finest research collections of southern hemisphere conifers in the world.
