The Buffalo Bayou Herbarium is a new conservation and education program developed in partnership with the University of Houston-Downtown Biology Department. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership Conservation Division works constantly to remove nonnative, invasive plants from the bayou's corridor and to plant native, wildlife-supporting species in their place. Through this work, the Partnership has found that the bayou has a unique inventory of both native and introduced flora which has never been cataloged and which is of great importance to understanding Houston’s historic ecology.

The goal of the Buffalo Bayou Herbarium is to provide a comprehensive catalogue of every plant growing along the Buffalo Bayou corridor. Working with the University of Houston-Downtown Biology Department, the Partnership implemented a student-led program to collect, catalogue and preserve each of the bayou’s plant species in summer, 2006. The plant specimens are pressed according to American Botanic Society archival standards, and each is catalogued with specific research information regarding its growth habit, taxonomy, conservation status and natural history.

The Herbarium will eventually be housed in the downtown Buffalo Bayou Visitors Center, available to the public for a variety of educational and research uses. The Herbarium will also be available through the Online Herbarium and in printed formats for area schools and organizations, providing readily accessible information on our region’s flora to all who are interested.

Check back as we progress on the Buffalo Bayou Online Herbarium and Floral Guide throughout 2007.

Plants of Buffalo Bayou

Trees

Woody Understory and Shrubs

Vines

Wildflowers

Aquatic and Wetland Plants

 

For more information on this program, or to volunteer, contact us at 713-752-0314 or email info@buffalobayou.org.



Coral Bean (Erythrina herbacea)

Buffalo Bayou Wildflowers Gallery

 

Buffalo Bayou Herbarium Funders

The Peterson Charitable Lead Trust

Garden Club of Houston

University of Houston-Downtown (In-kind)

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