Royal Botanical Gardens Herbarium (HAM)

Description

The Royal Botanical Gardens Herbarium (HAM) houses 62,000 accessioned vascular plant specimens from 191 families. After its founding in 1950, approximately 9000 specimens were collected by Ecologist Aleksander Tamsalu over the course of a few years. The collection has a focus on the local floras of Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario, with approximately half of the collection from specifically within the Royal Botanical Gardens' Nature Sanctuaries and to a smaller degree, its cultivated areas. Notable specimens include nomenclatural standards of Syringa and type specimens of the Gentianaceae as described by Dr. James Pringle. HAM is the only Canadian herbarium to accept nomenclatural standards. HAM incorporated the herbarium of McMaster University, Hamilton College (MCM) in 1966. Other notable, historical collections include those of Christian Ramsay Brown (Lady Dalhousie) and of the Hamilton Association for the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art. HAM continues to accession an average of 385 specimens yearly.

Contacts

ADMINISTRATIVE_POINT_OF_CONTACT
Nadia Cavallin
Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium
Burlington
L7T 4H4
Ontario
CA
email: ncavallin@rbg.ca

Royal Botanical Gardens Herbarium (HAM)
680 Plains Road West
Burlington
L7T 4H4
Ontario
CA
email: ncavallin@rbg.ca