RHS Herbarium

Most specimens in a herbarium are pressed, dried plants. These specimens are mounted on sheets of card and stored in flat folders in banks of cupboards following a logical sequence for easy referral.

Other specimens may be dried large fruiting bodies, pieces of wood or bark, seeds or material stored in spirit to preserve more delicate three-dimensional structures.

Herbaria are used by botanists for the identification and classification of plants. As the plant is usually preserved when flowering or fruiting, botanists can examine their most important features. They also provide a historical record of what was growing in a particular place at a particular time.

Many historic collections in herbaria now record plants no longer living in the location they were collected from. For cultivated plants, these records will give a latest date for when a particular plant was first grown.

In 1856 the RHS sold one of the most important collections ever of dried plants in an auction. Can you help the Keeper of the RHS Herbarium find them?