Michigan State University (MSC-Lichen)

The MSU Herbarium was founded in 1863 with the donation of a large collection of plants from Michigan and the eastern U.S. Today, we remain focused on plant and fungal diversity from Michigan, but the collection is also rich in plants from Mexico and southeast Asia, and lichens from the Caribbean and the subantarctic region. With over half a million specimens, the MSU Herbarium is among the 50 largest herbaria in the United States, whereas the lichen collection, with 120,000 accessioned collections, is among the 10 largest in North America and, because of its geographical scope, of international importance.

Herbarium Director: L. Alan Prather, alan@msu.edu, +1(517)355-4696 (ORCID #: 0000-0001-5815-2283)
Collections Manager of Lichens: Matthew Chansler, chansle1@msu.edu (ORCID #: 0000-0001-7555-5527)
Research Associate (lichens): Alan Fryday, fryday@msu.edu (ORCID #: 0000-0002-5310-9232)
Collection Type: Preserved Specimens
Management: Data snapshot of local collection database
Last Update: 26 June 2023
IPT / DwC-A Source:
Digital Metadata: EML File
Address:
Michigan State University Herbarium
Lichen Collection
Michigan State University, Plant Biology Laboratories
612 Wilson Rd., Room 166
East Lansing, Michigan   48824
United States
+1(517)355-4696
Collection Statistics
  • 110,419 specimen records
  • 80,371 (73%) georeferenced
  • 5,315 (5%) with images (5,367 total images)
  • 96,422 (87%) identified to species
  • 142 families
  • 708 genera
  • 6,117 species
  • 6,672 total taxa (including subsp. and var.)
Extra Statistics