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National Herbarium of New South Wales history and highlights

Charles Moore was the Director of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney in 1853 and he made a modest collection of approximately 1,800 native specimens. Since then, the National Herbarium of New South Wales has continued to expand and currently houses over 1.43 million plant specimens.

Collections that date back to 1770 

Over 800 specimens in the National Herbarium of New South Wales were collected by Australia’s early explorers such as the botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1770 on Captain James Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific.

Read more about its history here, listen to our Branch Out podcast or watch the video below. 

 Take a tour of the National Hebarium of New South Wales on YouTube 

Inside the old National Herbarium of NSW.
The old National Herbarium of NSW in circa 1820. 
Historical photo of a researcher working inside the National Herbarium of NSW. 
A specimen collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1770.
A specimen collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1770.