The 100,000th plant specimen has been entered into the Bessey Herbarium’s computer database at the University of Nebraska State Museum. This may sound like a lot of vegetation to the average person.
It’s not so much, though — the collection holds less than one-third of the plants from Nebraska, the United States and around the world. Systematized organization of the plants, some collected more than 150 years ago, has taken two decades so far — and counting.
The earliest specimens were taken in 1857. Some were taken from the ground along the Union Pacific Railway during its construction, and some were collected by such prominent Nebraskans as Willa Cather and Roscoe Pound.
The Bessey facility, founded in 1874, is one of the biggest and oldest herbaria in the Great Plains. Its collection is consulted by botanists and others from around the world.
The herbarium is named for Charles E. Bessey (1845–1915), an eminent botanist and professor who towers as one of the leading figures in the history of the University of Nebraska. In 2009, he was inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame.
Thousands of new plants are contributed to the collection each year. It would seem that the good work of the Bessey staff will have to continue for a few more decades — at least.
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