Botany

The Botany department at Milwaukee Public Museum consists of a reference library, a research collection of 200,000 botanical specimens, a molecular biodiversity laboratory, microscopes, and work space for scientists to conduct their investigations.

We call the collection space for our plant specimens a herbarium.

MPM’s herbarium, known to the scientific community by its 3-letter code MIL, is physically located on the top floor of the MPM building, immediately below the green roof and just behind the wall-mounted solar panel assembly. Since plants are nature's solar collectors, we think the herbarium is aptly situated.

MPM's Botany Department is home to several significant plants collections, including our type specimens. Learn more in the Collections Overview.

If you have a botanical question, want some advice on plant identification, or to schedule a visit to the herbarium, contact one of the Botany Department Staff.