About the Hollister Herbarium
The Paul L. Hollister Herbarium (HTTU) is a permanent collection of preserved plants that documents plant diversity across time and place.
HTTU houses more than 45,000 botanical specimens. Each specimen includes a preserved plant along with information about its identity, collector, date of collection, and geographic location. Together, these records provide an invaluable resource for understanding biodiversity, environmental change, and the history of plant life.
Internationally Recognized
HTTU is a member of the Tennessee Herbarium Consortium and is listed in Index Herbariorum, the international directory of the world's herbaria. Digitized specimen records are available through the Southeastern Regional Network of Expertise and Collections (SERNEC).
A herbarium is a systematically organized collection of preserved plants maintained
for research, education, public interpretation, and conservation. Most specimens are
pressed, dried, mounted on archival paper, labeled with collection information, and
stored in protective cabinets.
Properly prepared and cared for, herbarium specimens can remain useful for hundreds
of years. They allow people to investigate plant identification, geographic distribution,
flowering times, introduced species, environmental change, habitat loss, conservation
status, and many other questions.
Collection Stewardship
The Hollister Herbarium is maintained as a permanent research and educational collection through the Department of Biology, with dedicated space, professional oversight, and ongoing support to preserve and expand its scientific value for future generations.
The collection is carefully maintained to ensure its long-term preservation and accessibility. Ongoing stewardship initiatives include:
- Specimen preparation
- Cataloging
- Digitization
- Storage
- Pest management
- Taxonomic updates
- Research support
- Loans
- Educational use
- Public engagement