A herbarium is a library of dried, The William & Mary pressed, and mounted plant Herbarium (WILLI) specimens.

The Herbarium of the College of William & Mary was founded in 1969 and has since grown to house over A portion of the herbarium with its 77,000 plant specimens. The director, Dr. Martha Case. herbarium ranks third largest in the state and houses one of the largest At William & Mary over 50 collections of Virginia coastal plain cases hold the collection in a flora. Students and their projects climate-controlled have contributed over one half of its environment. This facility was current holdings. supported, in part, by a grant from the National Science Foundation. A herbarium specimen and its label. The herbarium is part of an By including a collector’s label, international network of plant herbarium specimens document researchers who may visit, where and when a particular borrow and exchange plant grew. specimens for study. Herbarium specimens can be Research projects from used to understand species’ herbarium students and their Virginia buttonbush and swallow-tail identifying features, geographic faculty mentors appear in over Photo by Pablo Yanez ranges, specific ecologies, and 50 publications. natural patterns of variation present in the wild.

Herbaria Community involvement Your donations support outreach service, student training and ongoing research A herbarium greatly benefits the local community. To donate to the herbarium, make your check payable to: Herbaria staff and associates frequently volunteer their time College of William & Mary Foundation and expertise to the public which includes plant In your check’s memo area, identifications, campus plant write: tours, and general information about regional plants and their Biology (2860) Herbarium environments.

Send your check to: Community and student involvement are vital to the Dr. Liz Allison, Chair function of the William & Mary Biology Department Herbarium. Projects include: P.O. Box 8795 College of William & Mary -Database management Williamsburg, VA 23187 Thank you for your support! -Specimen collection and Dr. Liz A. Allison other research projects Chair, Biology Department -Specimen processing Dr. Martha A. Case Director, William & Mary Herbarium

Ms. Beth H. Chambers Curator of the Herbarium 757-221-2213 [email protected] http://www.wm.edu/herbarium