Herbarium Collections

The Don McNair Herbarium houses a collection of over 14,500 specimens, including Angiosperms (flowering plants), Gymnosperms (conifers) and Pteridophytes (ferns). The collections focus is on the flora diversity of the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales and the arid zone flora of New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The collection is a valuable resource for plant identification, student learning and research, and specimen data provides a spatial and temporal map of the changes in flora distribution and loss in the Hunter region. It also provides a historical record and ancient DNA fingerprint of the regional flora.

The collection is made up of the main specimen collection, as well as additional reference collections for use by students and the community. The Herbarium also holds a collection of botanical illustrations, digital flora images and a library, resources that are used as additional tools to assist in plant identification.

All of the collections are catalogued and digitised, and held on an internal access database platform whose data can be made available on request. In 2023 the collection was rehoused in a secure climate and pest-controlled storage area with separate workspaces for volunteers and students.

The collection can be accessed by appointment by contacting the Collections Manager at

Don-McNair-Herbarium@newcastle.edu.au

Herbarium images