The University of Florida Herbarium is a unit in the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH). Our acquisitions policy is based upon the Museum’s Collections Policy.

Under Florida Statutes § 1004.56, the Museum is empowered to “…accept, preserve, maintain, or dispose of the specimens and materials…” to build its research collections.

Acquisitions: The University of Florida Herbarium acquires specimens from:

Acquisitions from outside sources can be accepted in two ways

The University of Florida Herbarium generally accepts specimens without stipulations and reserves the right to determine the appropriate use of the specimens. Specimens deemed not appropriate for the collection or the current development policy may be disposed of in a prudent manner.

Criteria: Decisions to acquire collections can only be made by the Curator / Collection Manager of the Herbarium. Material will be evaluated based on quality and resource requirements (space, budget*, staff). The FLMNH Administration and Space Committee will be consulted in connection with significant acquisitions.

To be accepted for the permanent collection, specimens must:

The UF Herbarium Collection Acquisition Checklist for Collectors provides more details on specimen set requirements and processing protocols.

* Researchers depositing large sets are expected to provide sufficient funding for the processing and storage of these materials. Please consult our staff and the UF Herbarium Estimated Cost of Services and Supplies document.

Priorities for Acquisition (Desiderata). The University of Florida accepts vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen specimens from anywhere in the world that meet our criteria. Specimens must be legally collected and shipped. Exchange specimens are traded in accordance with our exchange agreement. Our collection priorities include:

Accessioning, the process of officially adding the specimen to the collection, is the responsibility of the Collection Manager. Each specimen will be prepared in accordance with museum specimen standards and will receive an accession number.

Personal collections may not be maintained at the University of Florida Herbarium in accordance with the policies of the FLMNH and due to space, staff and conflict of interest issues. All specimens housed in the Herbarium are considered the property of the Herbarium with the exception of material borrowed via inter-institutional loan agreement.

Appraisals in order to establish the tax-deductible value of gifts or purchases may not be given by herbarium staff. However, where appropriate, staff may assist a donor to find a qualified professional outside the University of Florida system to provide appraisals.