In the News: The Garden Celebrates its
Six Millionth Herbarium Specimen

Croat's discovery, Anthurium centimillesimum, is the 100,000th specimen of his career. Croat, pictured above, is six feet two inches tall.

Croat presses the specimen in sheets of newspaper before its journey from Equador to Missouri.

Dr. Thomas Croat
The Missouri Botanical Garden’s six millionth herbarium specimen was collected in late 2007 by Dr. Thomas Croat, P.A. Schulz Curator of Botany.

Croat discovered Anthurium centimillesimum in the cloud forest of Ecuador’s Pichincha province, growing on a steep bank next to a pasture.

The new anthurium is a member of the Aroid or Araceae family, which also includes such familiar plants as philodendron, calla lilies, and Jack-in-the-pulpit.

Croat has been collecting specimens in the wild for over 41 years as part of the Garden’s science and conservation team.

Anthurium centimillesimum is his 100,000th collection (centimillesimum means 100,000), making Croat one of the most prolific plant collectors in the history of botany—only three others have collected more than 100,000 different samples.  

By the Numbers
There are approximately 3,200 herbaria in the world. The average size is 100,000 specimens. The Missouri Botanical Garden herbarium holds 6 million. Other interesting facts:

• The Garden's herbarium ranking in the Western Hemisphere: 2nd largest
• Ranking in the world: 5th largest
  
• Growth rate: 123,000 new specimens added per year
• Our herbarium includes specimens collected by Charles Darwin and Joseph Banks, who was on Captain James Cook’s first voyage around the world (1768–71).
• The Missouri Botanical Garden’s plant “library” has over one million more mounted specimens than the St. Louis Public Library has books.

In the News
KWMU.org coverage of the event.

Learn more about
The Herbarium