The Brown University Herbarium was founded in 1869 when the University acquired the collections of Stephen Thayer Olney. The collection includes around 100,000 plant specimens and is an important repository of Rhode Island and New England collections. We also have specimens from all 50 US states (plus the District of Columbia) and the collection is rich in western and southern North American plants including sets of historically valuable specimens from 19th and early 20th century western US expeditions.

Among other important collections, the herbarium also includes a set of Charles Wright’s Cuban plants (1856-1867), Cyrus Pringles' plants of Mexico (1885-1909) and a unique and classic collection of Carex assembled by Stephen Olney. The Herbarium continues to be active and over the past few years we have added around 2,000 specimens to the collection. These include new collections made by faculty and students at Brown in addition to gifts from other herbaria.

Visit the Herbarium website for more information about our collection.

The Plant Environmental Center at Brown University is located atop the IBES building at 85 Waterman Street.

The facility is comprised of six computer controlled research greenhouses totaling approximately 5,000 square feet. These greenhouses are used for research experiments, as well as to house various plant collections used to support biological science classes. In addition, this rooftop space includes an 1800 square foot conservatory open year around. The collection in the conservatory includes many plant families, including a diverse collection of Cycads, Orchids, Aroids, and many plants from the Amazon region. Many of these plants have medicinal and ceremonial uses and are part of our Ethnobotanical collection.

The greenhouse facility also consists of a head house, classroom, and plant growth chamber laboratory. The plant growth laboratory consists of eight E7/2 Conviron plant growth chamber units, as well as two eighty square foot walk-in chambers and one eighty square foot cold room. These units are primarily used by graduate students and faculty performing research with very specific cultural requirements that cannot be maintained in the greenhouses.

Visiting the Conservatory

Address: 85 Waterman Street Providence, RI 02912

The Conservatory is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Hours may be subject to change without notice, please call the greenhouse to confirm at (401) 863-3077. Special circumstances not withstanding. School groups and garden club tours must be arranged in advance. Artists, gardeners, tinkerers, dreamers, readers, thinkers, and general plant lovers are encouraged to visit.

Donation Request

To request the donations of live plants, please fill out the form at the link below.

Plant Donation Request