Herbarium
Visitor Information
Contact Information
Herbarium hours
Upon arrival
Lunch
Freezing study specimens
Arrangement of the
collections
Taxa listed on CITES Appendices
Rules for Use of the
Herbarium
Annotations
Study Rooms
Destructive sampling of
specimens
Photographing Herbarium Specimens
Herbarium Floor Plan
Loans
Directions to the
Garden
Accommodations
Contact Information
The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium is open to visitors
professional and non-professional with scientific reasons to study the
collections. Anyone wishing to study the collections should first
contact one of the following staff members prior to your visit:
The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
200th St. and Kazimiroff Avenue
Bronx, NY 10458-5126, U.S.A.
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Herbarium hours
Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Weekends and holidays: closed
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Upon arrival
Please ask the security guard or switchboard operator in the Watson
Building Lobby to call the Herbarium office, ext. 8626 or 8638, to
announce your arrival. A member of the Herbarium staff will greet you,
have you sign the guest register, and issue to you a visitor badge,
which must be worn while you are in the building. Normal working hours
are 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. By special arrangement, you
may be able to work before and after these hours.
New York City law prohibits smoking anywhere in the International Plant
Science Center-Museum-Watson Building complex.
The Garden’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library’s hours are different from those
of the Herbarium. The Library is closed to the public on Sunday and
Monday. On Tuesday through Thursday, it is open to the public from noon
to 6:00 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from noon to 5:00 p.m. During
the summer months (July through mid-September) the Library is closed on
Saturday and closes every weeknight at 5 p.m. By special arrangement,
you may be able to work in the Library from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on
Monday and in the mornings on Tuesday through Friday.
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Lunch
You are invited to bring lunch and eat with the staff at 12:30 p.m. at
the lunch-table near the Herbarium office (room 461-Museum). If you
prefer, you can walk to a nearby cafe, delicatessen, or take-out
restaurant or to the Terrace Cafe on the Garden grounds. The Herbarium
secretary (room 461-Museum) can provide you with a list, or ask any
member of the staff for directions. Vending machines, including a
coffee machine, are located near the Watson Building Lobby.
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Freezing study specimens
Any specimens brought to the Herbarium to be studied must be frozen for
48 hours before using them in the Herbarium to reduce the possibility
of introducing insect pests. Our shipping supervisor (room 159-Museum)
will handle the freezing of your specimens. If you plan to be here for
only one or two days, you must mail your specimens to be frozen in
advance of your visit.
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Arrangement of the
collections
Families are arranged in the Englerian sequence, modified to reflect
the families recognized by Cronquist, 1988. Within each family, the
genera are sorted alphabetically; each genus is sorted into
geographical regions in color-coded folders; and within geographic
regions the species are sorted alphabetically, with unidentified
specimens at the end of each category. Boxes of separate parts,
including fruits, are filed at the end of each family. Type specimens
are arranged in a similar fashion but in a separate sequence. A
list
of the families and their numbers is useful in locating a family
within the herbarium. See also the Herbarium
Floor Plan (pdf).
Taxa listed on CITES
Appendices
If you are studying any taxon listed on any of the CITES Appendices,
please familiarize yourself with the Text of the Convention
and the resolution
regarding herbarium specimens that pertain to the use and transport
of the specimens and their parts and products (e.g., DNA extracts). In
brief, specimens (incl. parts and products) may be used only for
scientific study (not for commercial purposes) and may be transported
internationally only between institutions registered with CITES.
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Rules for Use of the
Herbarium
Before opening a new aisle in the compactor, check to be certain that
no one or nothing is in the open aisle within the same bank.
Given that someone will try, however, to close an aisle without first
checking to see that it is clear, please close cabinet doors and remove
carts and step-stools from an aisle in which you are working whenever
you yourself are not working in the aisle.
Do not roll more than one bank at a time. Rolling more than one bank at
one time puts excessive pressure on the chain within the end panel of
the bank you are cranking.
Do not leave the aisles only partially open. The safety system doesn't
always go into effect when the aisles are only partly open.
Be thoughtful of others using the area and of the specimens. Do not
leave specimens, genus covers, species covers, etc., on the counter
height cabinets overnight.
Any specimens to be filed into the Herbarium (for example, any that
have been housed in an office for any length of time) must be frozen
immediately prior to their filing.
Anytime after 4 pm in the afternoon, please turn off the lights when
leaving an area if you are the only person in the room. On the 5th
floor of the Herbarium, check to see if anyone is in the Fungus Room
before turning off the lights. To do so, you can use the master switch,
which is the left-most switch of the series of three to the right of
the door as you exit.
No food or drink, including candy and cookies, is allowed in the
Herbarium. There are drinking fountains in the elevator lobby on each
floor.
The blue wastebaskets are for recyclable paper only, i.e., white paper,
newsprint, magazines. All other trash must be placed in the tan
wastebaskets.
The Herbarium is a place for visitors and staff to work peacefully. If
you need to hold a long conversation with another person working in the
Herbarium, please find somewhere outside the main ranges to talk so
that others in the area can concentrate on their work.
If time permits, please refile the specimens that you examined--with
the exception of those noted in the following section (see Annotations,
below):
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Annotations
Visiting specialists are encouraged to annotate specimens using
permanent ink on annotation labels, indicating the name of the
investigator and the date of annotation. Annotation labels, if you do
not have your own, and glue are available in supply baskets on the
counters on each floor of the Herbarium and in the study rooms. Please
use glue to attach to the specimen any annotation labels that you
create.
Annotate previously unverified types with the basionym and original
place of publication and include your name. Give these to a member of
the Herbarium staff for inclusion in the Type Database. Special type
annotation labels can be obtained from any staff member.
If you annotate any collections, please set them aside to be recorded
by one of the Herbarium staff, but please make sure to leave species
and genus covers in the Herbarium cases.
If your study results in the necessity of a rearrangement of our
collections, please leave the specimens that you annotated on a table
with a complete list of synonyms, so that the specimens can be filed
and cross-referenced properly.
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Study Rooms
If you are assigned to a study room, please work with your specimens in
that room, to the extent possible, in order to leave the scopes and
counters in the Herbarium itself available to those without a study
room in which to work.
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Destructive sampling of
specimens
Removal of samples (e.g., pollen or leaf) from specimens may be
undertaken only if permission is granted by the Director or Associate
Director of the Herbarium, and then only in compliance with the Policy on Destructive Sampling of Herbarium Specimens.
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Photographing Herbarium Specimens
If you wish to take photographs of herbarium specimens, you may do so for scientific or educational
purposes without charge, but permission is required to publish them. If permission is granted, the
following citation should appear near the image on the web page or publication:
This specimen belongs to The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY).
The locality data of any endangered species, e.g., those on the
United States Federal Endangered Plant Species list and the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants, should be restricted to county level and should be obscured
from the label in the image.
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Herbarium Floor Plan
A map of the herbarium (pdf) will be useful in finding your way around
the museum building and herbarium.
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Loans
Specimens that you desire to have sent on loan for further study should
be set aside and clearly labeled with your name and institutional
address (forms for this purpose will be provided). Please separate
types from non-types. Return the genus folders, species covers, and
mounted literature to the Herbarium cases. A formal written request for
the loan must be received from the director of your herbarium before
the material will be sent.
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Directions
The New York Botanical Garden is in the Bronx,
one of the five boroughs of New York City. Many New Yorkers know the
Garden not as "The New York Botanical Garden" but as the "Bronx
Botanical Garden," and sometimes even confuse it with the Brooklyn
Botanic Garden. Therefore, if you ask for directions or tell a taxi
driver where you want to go, tell them "The Botanical Garden in the
Bronx next to the Zoo and Fordham University." If you will be using a
taxi, you may have to provide directions, so you should have these
instructions handy. When you arrive at the Garden, ask The New York
Botanical Garden security guard to direct you to the Watson
Building.
Directions from the main area airports are given below.
Instructions for reaching The Garden by car, or from Manhattan, can be
found here.
TRAVEL FROM THE AIRPORT:
LaGuardia
Airport is located on Long Island in Queens
(another
borough of New York City) about 8 airmiles south of the Garden. Kennedy
Airport (JFK) is also located in Queens, about 15 airmiles
southeast of
the Garden.
Newark Airport is located near Newark, New Jersey, about 23
airmiles southwest of the Garden. You can reach The Garden by taxi or
by public transportation (see below).
Metered taxis are readily available at
the airports. Take a metered taxi from the taxi stand outside the
terminal. Do not accept a ride from the "gypsy" cab drivers who solicit
fares inside the terminal. There is no charge for luggage that can be
carried by one person. One fare pays for all passengers. If you
encounter any problems, note the Vehicle Identification Number, located
on the roof of the cab between the "on and off" duty sign, and report
the incident to the Commission (212/302-8294); for taxi lost/found call
212/302-8294. Newark Airport, the farthest from the Garden, is in
another state and the metered taxi fare is doubled! If you arrive at
Newark, unless you have money to burn, take an airport bus from Newark
Airport to Manhattan (see below).
FROM KENNEDY AIRPORT (JFK) TO THE GARDEN (VIA THE
WHITESTONE BRIDGE). Tell the taxi driver to go to the Van Wyck
Expressway (I-678) NORTH to the Bronx Whitestone Bridge. Take
the Hutchinson River Parkway NORTH. Exit from the Parkway at
the Pelham Parkway WEST
exit (EXIT 3) and continue on the Parkway for about 2-3 miles and then
bear right onto Southern Boulevard (do not go to the underpass,
continue bearing right). At this point the Garden will be on your right
and the Zoo on the far left. At the traffic light, make a RIGHT turn
onto Southern Boulevard (Fordham University will be on your left and
the Garden on your right). Follow Southern Boulevard to the Garden's
entrance (at 3rd traffic light).
FROM LA GUARDIA AIRPORT (LGA) TO THE GARDEN:.
Take the Grand Central Parkway EAST and follow signs to the
Whitestone Bridge and proceed from the Bridge as described in the
previous paragraph.
ALTERNATE ROUTE FROM
THE WHITESTONE BRIDGE: From the
Bridge exit at the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95) WEST. Proceed
on the Expressway and exit at the Bronx River Parkway NORTH
(EXIT 4b). Continue going NORTH
on the Parkway and exit at the Botanical Garden exit (EXIT 8). This
exit is shortly after the Bronx Zoo exit. You will now be on Kazimiroff
Boulevard, circling the north end of the Garden grounds, and can enter
at the Garden's entrance (at 2nd traffic light, follow the signs).
ALTERNATE ROUTE VIA THE
TRIBORO BRIDGE: Many cabdrivers
insist on a
route to the Bronx over the Triborough Bridge instead of the
Whitestone. If you get one of these, the route is: Triborough Bridge to
the Bruckner Expressway (I-278) to the Bronx River Parkway, NORTH
on the Parkway to the Botanical Garden exit (EXIT 8), which is shortly
after the Bronx Zoo exit. You will now be on Kazimiroff Boulevard,
circling the north end of the Garden grounds, and can enter at the
Garden's entrance (at 2nd traffic light, follow the signs).
FROM LAGUARDIA OR KENNEDY AIRPORT BY AIRPORT BUS
AND
METRO- NORTH TRAIN OR SUBWAY:Take Carey
Airport Express (airport bus) from stops
in front of the terminals at either airport to Grand Central Station
(125 Park Avenue, near Grand Central Station, between 41st and 42nd
streets). The bus leaves Kennedy every 30 minutes and every 20-30
minutes from LaGuardia (6:45 am to midnight). From Grand Central
Station you can take the Metro-North
train or the
subway to the Garden.
FROM KENNEDY AIRPORT BY SHUTTLE
BUS AND SUBWAY:
(operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). At
Kennedy there is a free shuttle bus to the Howard Beach subway
station. From Howard Beach take the "A" Train marked "Far Rockaway"
to 42nd Street and 8th Avenue (Port Authority Bus Terminal) in
Manhattan. From the Port Authority Bus Terminal you can
take the Metro-North
train or the subway to the Garden.
FROM LAGUARDIA OR KENNEDY AIRPORT BY RIVERDALE
JITNEY AIRPORT SERVICE:
The Riverdale Jitney provides
convenient and
affordable door-to-door service between the Bronx and LaGuardia or
Kennedy. Jitney
hours are 6 am-6 pm Monday-Friday, 6 am-5 pm on week-ends. Reservations
for departing flights may be made one or two days in advance during
daytime hours by calling 718/884-9400. You may call the same number
when you arrive at the airport if you want the Jitney to drive you to
the Bronx. The wait for this trip is between 5 and 60 minutes.
FROM NEWARK AIRPORT BY AIRPORT BUS
AND SUBWAY: Take the New Jersey Transit
airport bus (201/762-5100 or
from New
Jersey 1-800/772-2222) to the Port Authority Bus Terminal (42nd Street
and 8th Avenue in Manhattan). Buses leave the airport every 20 minutes.
From the Port Authority Bus Terminal you can take the subway
directly
to the Garden or you can get to Grand Central Station where you can
take the above-ground Metro-North
train.
FROM NEWARK AIRPORT BY AIRPORT BUS AND TRAIN: Olympia Trails
Express Bus (212-964-6233) to Grand
Central Terminal
(42nd Street and Park Avenue). Buses leave the terminal about every 20
minutes, travel time 30-60 minutes. From Grand Central Terminal you can
get to the Garden by the Metro-North
train or by subway.
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