At that time John Macoun was hired as the Museum's first biologist; his primary interest was botany. Macoun built up a sizable collection of approximately 100,000 plants, known as a herbarium, before his semi-retirement in 1911. As a result of Macoun's collecting and trading endeavours, Nature's Plant Collections are rich in historic specimens dating back to 1766.
A.E. Porsild was hired as the Museum's botanist in 1936, and with his specific interest in arctic botany, he developed the Canadian National Herbarium into a world-class arctic plant collection that today holds over 100,000 arctic plant specimens.
In 1968 the Canadian National Herbarium was divided into four separate herbaria, each with its own international code: vascular plants (CAN); algae (CANA); Lichens (CANL) and Bryophytes (CANM). Today Nature's four herbaria together contain over one million plant specimens.
Our Vascular Plant Collection is one of the largest in Canada. It offers an excellent representation of native species from north temperate regions, with a strong emphasis on Canadian species. There are 575,000 specimens, including ca. 2,500 type specimens.
Our Lichen Collection includes the largest holdings of Canadian lichens in the world. The collection currently contains 111,500 catalogued specimens, including ca. 750 type specimens.
Our Bryophyte Collection contains 225,000 moss specimens, about 25,000 hepatics, and ca. 950 type specimens.
Our Algae Collection contains 65,000 specimens, including macro and microalgae. There are ca. 300 type specimens.
