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National Herbarium
of New South Wales

The National Herbarium of NSW houses a growing collection of over 1 million plant specimens - one of the most significant botanical resources in the Southern Hemisphere. The precious collection is now being moved to a newly constructed facility at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.


A new era of plant science and research

The Herbarium collection is valued at $280 million and was previously located at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney for almost 170 years. With more than 8000 new plant specimens being added to the Herbarium every year, the world-renowned collection underpins vital scientific research and is essential for informing decisions about the conservation of our natural environment.

Construction of the new state-of-the-art Herbarium facility at Mount Annan was critical to protect the growing collection for future generations and pioneer new ground in botanical science and research on a local and international scale. The collection has also been digitised and high resolution images of plant specimens can be accessed through our Public Data Set: HerbariumNSW on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Learn how to use AWS here. 

Accessing the collection

The herbarium collection is currently being moved to the newly constructed Herbarium facility at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan and is closed to visitors and researchers until September 2022. Please see below for alternative options.

Once the herbarium collection has moved to the new National Herbarium of NSW facility constructed at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan by September 2022, the main research collection will be open to researchers by prior appointment only with: 

Manager Collections
National Herbarium of New South Wales
herbarium.nsw@rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au
(02) 9231 8013

The National Herbarium of NSW collection has been digitised and high resolution images of plant specimens can be accessed through our Public Data Set: HerbariumNSW on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Learn how to use AWS to access the digital collection here. Other options include: 
This collection is available for people looking to identify their own plant collections. To access this collection please see the Botanical Information Service contact details further below. 

Once the herbarium collection has moved to the new National Herbarium of NSW facility at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan by September 2022, regular public tours will resume. Please see the What's On page for dates and booking information in the lead up to September 2022. Tours for special interest groups may be requested (maximum 15 people per tour), but will be restricted. For more information, please contact: 

For education group tours, please contact:
School Booking Officer
(02) 9231 8111

Herbarium specimen loans & exchanges

The National Herbarium of NSW is part of an international network of institutions sharing plant specimens. The collection is currently being moved to the newly constructed Herbarium facility at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan and is closed to visitors and researchers until September 2022.

The herbarium collection is currently being moved to the newly constructed Herbarium facility at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan and is closed to visitors and researchers until September 2022. 

Researcher’s wishing to loan specimens from New South Wales must abide by the Herbarium’s Conditions of Loan. Destructive sampling of specimens may be requested; please refer to our Destructive Sampling Policy.

The Herbarium is prioritizing the return of specimens made available to New South Wales on loan to their home institutions. All requests for loan material must be made in writing, electronically or by mail, by the Head of the borrowing institution and addressed to:

Manager Collections
National Herbarium of New South Wales
Botanic Gardens and Centennial Parklands
Mrs Macquaries Road
Sydney NSW 2000
AUSTRALIA

Most herbaria in the world and within Australia have a longstanding tradition of exchanging herbarium specimens for the purpose of a broader diversity of species and increased accessibility of specimens for scientific research. Duplicate materials are donated to other institutions throughout the world and in return, New South Wales receives about 10,000 exchange specimens annually from these institutions. 

Herbarium label information for exchange specimens from New South Wales can be sent electronically to the receiving organisation in HISPID (Herbarium Information Standards and Protocols for Interchange of Data) format. We encourage, and appreciate, the full transfer of electronic data with herbarium collections being donated to New South Wales, including permit information.

The loan and exchange of specimens or samples of Australian species can only occur between registered scientific institutions. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and Australian Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 strictly control the movement of specimens and parts of specimens of some taxa. 

Strict quarantine regulations apply to the importation of herbarium specimens into Australia. Institutions wishing to send material to New South Wales must first contact the Manager Collections for information on quarantine requirements, and consult BICON, the Australian Biosecurity Import Conditions database, for further details. International shipping guidelines can be found here.

Botanical Identification Service

We provide a comprehensive plant identification service. However, please see below information as there are changes to way the service will work while the National Herbarium of NSW is closed.

Collecting information

Most plants can be preserved as permanent reference material through careful pressing and drying practices followed by storage in dry and insect-free conditions found in herbariums.

Although lacking the freshness and colour of live material, well-collected and prepared specimens with field notes usually provide most of the features needed for identification and systematic research. 

Collections must not be made in national or state parks or nature reserves, nor of protected plant species unless a permit has been obtained from the appropriate authority (in New South Wales it is the Director-General, New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service). Such permits are generally only given for collections made in the course of scientific studies.

For information on identifying plant specimens please see Plant Information and the Botanical Information Service section further below. For information on the collection, preparation and preservation of plant specimens please read the chapter on ‘How to Collect Plants’.

A type specimen is a preserved specimen selected to serve as a permanent reference point for a scientific plant name. Type specimens are vitally important to botanists in determining the correct application of botanical names. There are a number of different categories of types recognised under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants: 

  1. Holotype: The single specimen designated as the type of a species by the original author at the time the species name and description was published.

  2. Isotype: A duplicate specimen of the holotype.

  3. Syntype: Any of two or more specimens listed in the original description of a taxon when a holotype was not designated. Isosyntypes are duplicates of a syntype.

  4. Lectotype: A specimen chosen by a later researcher to serve as the primary type. It is chosen from among the specimens available to the original author of a name when the holotype was either lost or destroyed, or when no holotype was designated. Isolectotypes are duplicates of a lectotype.

  5. Neotype: A specimen chosen by a later researcher to serve in place of a holotype when all specimens available to the original author of a name have been lost or destroyed. Isoneotypes are duplicates of a neotype.


Herbarium history and highlights

The Herbarium collection contains over 800 plant collections made by botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1770 on Captain Cook's first voyage to the Pacific. Discover more about the Herbarium's rich history in our gallery below. 

A world-class botanic science hub

The Herbarium is part of the Australian Institute of Botanical Science, one of the nation’s premier botanical research organisations. The Herbarium also joins the award-winning Australian PlantBank and extensive Living Collection of native plants at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, creating a world-class botanic science hub to help ensure the survival of plants and build more resilient ecosystems for future generations.

Learn more about the herbarium in our Branch Out podcast

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