An employee in the Ownbey Herbarium assembling a display for plants.

Welcome to the Marion Ownbey Herbarium

The plant and natural history museum at Washington State University

The Marion Ownbey Herbarium (WS) is a collection of over 400,000 specimens of vascular and nonvascular plants and lichens. The Herbarium includes plants from around the world, although those of the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rocky Mountains, Great Basin, and California form the majority of the collection.

Herbarium staff assist researchers by making specimens available, acquiring specimen loans, and curating new collections made for research projects. The Herbarium is available for educational uses, and tours for university classes or other groups can be arranged. Herbarium staff can assist in plant identification and provide botanical information.

Location

Owen Science Library,
North half of 4th floor

Open daily 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Free to the public

We recommend visitors contact Herbarium staff prior to visiting. To make arrangements for visits, please call 509-335-8358 or email cas.herbarium@wsu.edu.

Checklist of Plants at the Hudson Biological Reserve at Smoot Hill

Check out the link to the new SEINet checklist linked to specimens on our floras page!

Herbarium Blog

Check out our new semi-regular series:
The Herbarium Blog!

Highlights

Highlighting the Ownbey Herbarium hosting the Penstemon Society Meetings

Check out the recent “The Penstemaniac” newsletter discussing the American Penstemon Society visit to the herbarium.

New video on Tragopogon evolution on the Palouse!

Check out the new video describing the research of Doug and Pam Soltis on Tragopogon – work that built upon Marion Ownbey’s early description of hybrid species on the Palouse. Watch the video.