Welcome to the Eckert Herbarium (ECK)
The Eckert Herbarium (ECK) is named for the late Dr. Theodore Eckert, a distinguished teaching professor at Buffalo State Teacher’s College. Dr. Eckert served as the herbarium’s first caretaker, and his specimens formed the basis of the original collection.
Today, ECK’s collections include about 22,000 vascular plants, nonvascular plants and fungi, primarily from Western New York state. The herbarium also provides access to about 1,000 lichens. The majority of ECK’s collections date from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the earliest date from the 1820s through the turn of the 20th century. The most recent are from this year.
Our Collections
Fungi
The Dr. James D. Haynes Mycological Collection includes approximately 1,300 specimens, mostly from New York State.
An Excel database of the Haynes Collection is available through the link below.
Vascular Plants
The vascular plant collection includes about 21,000 specimens, primarily from the eight counties of western New York. There are also many collections from across New York State and North America.
Lichens
The herbarium houses a privately owned collection of lichens from Western New York and from elsewhere in New York State and Downeast Maine.
An Excel database of the Battaglia Collection is available through the link below. The database also includes records of lichens from WNY deposited at herbaria other than ECK.
Lichens Map
The Lichens of Western New York Map features the locations for the lichen specimens collected throughout Western New York and adjacent Ontario, both those deposited at ECK and those deposited at herbaria across the USA.
Visit Us
The Eckert Herbarium is located in the Science and Mathematics Complex (SAMC) 245.
The herbarium is open by appointment. Contact Dr. Daniel Potts at pottsdl@buffalostate.edu or (716) 878-5007.
ECK Happenings
Keep up to date on what’s happening at the Eckert Herbarium! Since 2006, the herbarium has produced an end-of-year report. Happenings presents summaries of those annual reports.
Flowering Plants of Western New York
The Flowering Plants of Western New York is a portfolio of photographs depicting many of the region’s wild flowering, herbs, shrubs and vines. A species may be represented by several photos that illustrate its flowers, fruits, and habitat.
This non-technical resource is intended for use by educators, students, and naturalists. The portfolio is designed to work with two popular field guides; Wildflowers of Northeastern/North Central North America (A Peterson Field Guide, 1968) and Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Lawrence Newcomb, 1977).