About the Herbarium:
The WCU Herbarium is a plant biodiversity resource and repository for preserved plant
specimens collected primarily in the southern Appalachians and southeastern U.S. WCUH
is the largest botanical resource in western North Carolina, with over 27,000 pressed
and dried vascular plant specimens. In addition to vascular plants, we also have approximately
4,000 specimens of nonvascular plants and fungi (including lichens, mosses and fern
gametophytes) and plants from outside the southeastern region and outside the U.S.
WCUH serves as a significant teaching and research facility that provides documentation
of past and present plant diversity in the southern Appalachians.
The Herbarium was established in 1953 by Professor Clinton Dodson who, with botany
students, built the initial core of the collections. Dr. James Horton assumed the
Directorship in 1962 and, over the next decade, significantly increased the number
of plant specimens representing state and local flora. Exchange with UNC-Chapel Hill
(NCU) during the 1970s and 80s also boosted the holdings of the collection. Dr. Dan
Pittillo became the next Herbarium Director and contributed his personal collections
from 1970 onward. After Dr. Pittillo’s retirement in 2005, Dr. Katherine Mathews became
Director of WCUH.
Significant collections:
WCUH is the main repository for Blue Ridge Parkway collections of North Carolina and
also maintains collections from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. National and
State Park specimens are maintained in separate genus folders from the main collections.
Flora of Southern Highland Rock Outcrops: Representing over 1,400 collections made
by Dan Pittillo and James Horton between 1966-1974, these collections document the
flora of the unique, high-elevation (2,000-5,700 ft) rock outcrop habitat in the southern
Appalachians. The specimens are maintained in separate folders from the main collections.
Facilities:
Renovations were completed to the Stillwell Science Building in January, 2008, where
the Herbarium is now housed. The pressed and dried plant specimens are stored in 35
full-size oak cabinets built in the early 1950s by the Southern Desk Company.
The main collections room contains the cabinets along with research benches and dissecting microscopes. The adjacent curator’s office provides additional workspace and a small botanical reference library. Adjacent rooms serve as plant drying, mounting, sorting, packaging and freezing areas.
Activities:
WCUH maintains an active loan program and is open to exchange of duplicate specimens
with other herbaria.
The collections are used for plant identification by professional botanists in the
area, as well as for research in plant systematics by scientists around the country.
WCU graduate students focusing on plant systematics use the collections for research
and contribute their own collections to the Herbarium.
Contact us:
Dr. Katherine Mathews, Director and Curator of WCUH
Email: kmathews@email.wcu.edu
Phone: 828-227-3659 or 828-227-2945
Mail: Department of Biology
132 Natural Science Building
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC 28723