Acadia National Park Herbarium

Collections and Highlights

While the bulk of the specimens are from coastal Maine, the collection also includes plants from across North America. Key holdings include:

• Plants of Acadia National Park
• Plants of Coastal Maine, compiled by Dr. William H. Drury, Jr., an early COA faculty member
• Craig Greene Collection: Botanical specimens, field notebooks, and data from COA’s longtime botany professor, instrumental to the publication The Plants of Acadia National Park
  

The Herbarium is also home to specimens gathered through student senior projects, independent research, and faculty fieldwork.

Taxonomic groups represented

Teaching and research uses

The Herbarium supports a wide range of academic inquiry and environmental monitoring. It is used by COA classes such as:

• Trees and Shrubs of Mount Desert Island
• Plant Systematics
• Lichen Biology
• Ecology and Biology of Fungi
• Bryophyte Biology
• Ecology: Natural History
• Numerous senior projects and independent studies

Students use the Herbarium for specimen identification, microscopy work, and long-term ecological comparison. It also houses a small botany library with region-specific texts and periodicals.

Digitization and data sharing

Herbarium staff are currently working to digitize the vascular plant collection as part of a national effort to make Herbarium data publicly accessible. This will allow researchers around the world to access images and metadata from the Herbarium collection for comparative and conservation work.

Visiting hours:

The Herbarium is located on the second level of the Arts and Sciences building, adjacent to the botany lab. If you wish to use the herbarium please contact us to schedule an appointment.

COA Herbarium
c/o Dr. Suzanne Morse
105 Eden Street
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
herbarium@coa.edu
(207) 288-5015 x5809

Staff and student curators

The Herbarium is directed by Suzanne Morse, coordinated by Susan Letcher, and curated by Jill Weber. They are supported by a team of student work-study curators and community volunteers with backgrounds in botany and ecology

Research and publications

The Herbarium houses voucher specimens cited in a broad range of peer-reviewed research produced by COA students, alumni, and faculty. These studies explore topics such as lichen ecology, flora of superfund sites, island vegetation, soil-metal interactions, and bryophyte diversity.

Featured publication topics include:

• Limestone flora and vernal pool lichens
• Flora of Acadia National Park, Duck Islands, and Callahan Mine
• Plant-soil elemental relationships in metal-contaminated sites
• Ornithocoprophilous plant adaptations on seabird islands
  

Outside researchers have also referenced Herbarium collections in studies of rare and regionally significant species.

For a list of publications, visit: Research at COA

Herbarium resources:

• Consortium of Northeast Herbaria
• Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria
• Consortium of North American Bryophyte Herbaria
• Macroalgal Herbarium Consortium

Botany resources:

• Plant sciences research guide
• Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
• Botany word of the day
• NYBG virtual herbarium