The Utah Valley State College Herbarium (UVSC) was established in 1987 as a research and teaching facility. The initial herbarium collection consisted of botanical specimens collected by Professor of Biology James G. Harris, whose research led him from low desert to high elevation areas of Utah, as well as arctic regions of North America and Greenland. Additional collections made during various research projects have been added to the herbarium. Of particular note are: a complete collection of specimens obtained from a vegetative study of the Box-Death Hollow wilderness area (Garfield county, Utah), conducted by Janet Cooper, and collections associated with endangered plant studies (southern Utah), conducted by Renée Van Buren. Currently the herbarium houses over 11,000 accessioned herbarium sheets, with an average of 1,500 specimens being added to the collection each year.

The herbarium has become a significant resource for identification, and is actively used as a teaching tool. Additionally, important information such as: geographic and ecologic distribution, diversity of species, flowering and fruiting periods, phenotypic characteristics, and genetic information can be obtained from a herbarium specimen, making it useful for research in phytogeography, systematics, taxonomy, ecology, and evolution.

Because we are a teaching facility, our focus is the acquisition of representative specimens of all plant species growing in Utah and surrounding areas. Additionally, we would like to expand collections in support of research conducted by students and faculty. Specimens are added to the herbarium collection via:

• Field collections made by staff, faculty and students.
• Gifts and exchanges from other herbaria.
• Voucher specimens associated with research.
• Gifts from regional botanists.

Our herbarium collections include:

• Lichens, ferns and fern allies, gymnosperms, moncotyledons and dicotyledons. These groups are arranged alphabetically by family→Genus→species→sub-species or variety.
• Cones and fruit types.
• A private collection of over 1300 slides including woody plants, herbaceous flowering plants and community types. These slides are used in teaching and in presentations. However, they may be made available to interested persons on a limited basis.
• A fossil plant collection, donated to the herbarium by William D. Tidwell, Brigham Young University Botany Department, December 1999, is in the process of being labeled and accessioned.
• A collection of reference books and maps for use by staff, faculty, students and visitors.

The herbarium is generally open to the public weekdays between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. Off hour use may be arranged if necessary. Herbarium staff is available for assistance. Microscopes and work space may be made available as well.