Stover-Ebinger Herbarium

The Stover-Ebinger Herbarium has about 84,000 specimens. It contains a very good representation of the flora of the midwestern United States, and about half the specimens were collected in Illinois. Students and faculty conducting ecological studies and floristic inventories use the herbarium to help identify the plants they see and collect, and to document their field work. Students in Plant Taxonomy, Dendrology, and Wetland Plants classes use it to become familiar with species and for identification of specimens. In the Wetland Plants, General Botany, Medicinal Plants, and Plant Evolution classes, herbarium specimens are used to to make morphological comparisons among relevant plant taxa. The herbarium was started in 1899. Originally named the Stover Herbarium for Dr. Ernest L. Stover, professor of botany from 1923-1960, the Botany Dept. faculty voted in 1995 to "expand" the name to honor John E. Ebinger on the occasion of his retirement. Dr. Ebinger collected about one-third of our specimens, and served as curator from 1963-1995.

For more information contact herbarium curator Dr. Gordon C. Tucker at gctucker@eiu.edu