About the Herbarium
The EKU Herbarium (EKY) was founded in 1974 by Dr. J. Stuart Lassetter, who curated it until 1981. At that time the collection numbered about 9,000 specimens. From 1981 to the 2012, Dr. Ronald L. Jones served as the curator. Dr. Brad Ruhfel, who began at EKU in Fall, 2012, was curator until December 2018. Dr. Melanie Link-Perez served as curator from August 2019 until August 2021. Dr. Ross Clark, emeritus, served as an interim curator from August 2021 to August 2022. The herbarium is currently curated by Dr. Sally Chambers.
As of early 2022, the EKY collection numbered over 85,000 specimens; most have been databased. Note the link to our searchable herbarium database, developed and designed by Mr. Robert Pace, a former graduate student and current staff member. The database, called IKnew, is an outgrowth of the “Index Kentuckiensis” software developed by the late Mr. Charlie Lapham of Glasgow. Mr. Lapham was a pioneer in herbarium database work and worked (voluntarily) for more than a decade to perfect a system that eventually became widely used in the southeastern U.S at a number of other herbaria. We have an imaging project underway aimed at obtaining an image of every specimen in the herbarium and making it available online. To view images of these specimens and data see http://www.sernecportal.org/. The EKU Herbarium is the largest and most active collection in Kentucky, and the third largest in the Kentucky-Tennessee region.
Most specimens are from central and eastern Kentucky, but there is also good representation of western Kentucky and the southeastern United States. There is also a set of woody plant specimens recently collected in Costa Rica. Nearly all of our specimens are of vascular plants (ferns, gymnosperms, wildflowers, vines, shrubs, and trees); there are only a few collections of algae and bryophytes. A number of important sets of specimens are housed at the EKU Herbarium, including sets from Lilley Cornett Woods, Maywoods Environmental and Educational Laboratory, Pine Mountain, Breaks Interstate Park, Brodhead Swamp, the Red River Gorge, the headwater regions of the Green River, collections from the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, collections of Mary Wharton, E.T. Browne, Raymond Athey, and county collections from Madison, Estill, Jackson, and Garrard Counties in Kentucky.
Since several years ago, the Berea College Herbarium (BEREA) has been housed in the same facility as the EKU Herbarium. In February 2022, the fully accessioned combined collection included about 115,000 specimens.
The EKU Herbarium provides loans for systematic studies, and annotations are welcome. The herbarium has participated in several exchange programs, and we are interested in developing more exchange opportunities. Gifts of labeled specimens or duplicates for identification are welcome. Visits by the general public and specialists are welcome.
The herbarium is always in need of volunteer help. Please contact us if you wish to volunteer in such activities as mounting specimens, typing labels, taking photographs, filing specimens, and similar work.
The mailing address of the EKU Herbarium is: Department of Biological Sciences, Science Building, Room 3238, 521 Lancaster Avenue, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY 40475. The Herbarium is physically located in Science Building Room 1206.