About the Herbarium
The Queensland Herbarium is the centre for science, research and information on Queensland’s ecosystems and species of plants, fungi, algae and animals.
The Queensland Herbarium building at Toowong houses the state’s plant and fungi specimen collections of more than 900,000 specimens, representing Queensland’s native and naturalised species and 160 years of scientific discovery and biodiversity documentation. Botanists and members of the public continue to contribute thousands of specimens to the Herbarium collection each year, helping to document and name Queensland’s species while adding new distribution records.
Queensland’s ecosystems have been surveyed, mapped and classified over 1400 regional ecosystems across the state, and are the subject of ecological research, condition assessment and monitoring.
The Herbarium’s research provides the essential information needed for the conservation assessment and management of Queensland’s species and ecosystems and helps us to better understand ecological processes and the services provided by ecosystems and wildlife.
The Queensland Herbarium provides a plant identification and information service to the public.
Plant identification services are available between 10am and 2pm Monday to Friday of each week. Specimens received outside of these hours will be queued for identification by our duty botanists.
Poisons information calls and urgent enquiries will be dealt with directly.
The Queensland Herbarium is also a partner in the Australian Tropical Herbarium in Cairns.
Visitor information
The Queensland Herbarium is located at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha, 6km west of Brisbane City.
Opening hours are 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
You can access a behind the scenes look at the Queensland Herbarium by taking a virtual tour. Conduct a self-guided tour by clicking your way through the building or watch a quick tour with videos by clicking the black triangle on the bottom left-hand corner. Videos explaining each area of the Herbarium are available where you see a blue triangle.
Contact us if you would like further information on our services and research areas.
Volunteers
The Queensland Herbarium has a dedicated team of volunteers helping with specimen processing and other tasks. If you would like to enquire about volunteering, please contact us.
Public reference centre
The public reference centre is now open for use.