The history of the Herbarium (PE), the Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences can be traced back to the Herbarium, Department of Botany, the Fan Memorial Institute of Biology, Peiping (1928), as well as the Herbarium, Institute of Botany, the National Academy of Peiping (1929). During the past seven decades, PE has developed into the largest herbarium in Asia. The current collection contains more than 2,400,000 specimens ( including 80,000 seed collections and 70,000 plant fossil samples). In addition, over 10,000 type specimens are preserved and maintained in the herbarium. The current curator is Prof. Liangqian Li.

       The Herbarium (PE), the largest in Asia, has collection of 2.4 million sheets of plant specimens within an area of 11,000 m².

The mission of the PE is to make full use of the current strengths of its staff members and collections, to develop itself into a center of East-Asian plant specimen collections and research on plant taxonomy, and to lead internationally in collection-based research and herbarium management.

The PE has good facilities for the preservation of plant

specimens and a favourable environment for work.

The future developments of PE will include increasing the herbarium collection by expanding its current collecting and exchange programs (particularly emphasizing groups distributed outside of China), setting up a strong research team of taxonomists, training the future generation of taxonomists, further developing the virtual herbarium, and strengthening the public education programs in plant sciences.

Collaboration:  During all these years, the Herbarium has attracted many experts and researchers by its rich collections and excellent facilities. Up to date, the herbarium has set up specimen loan and exchange programs with over 100 herbaria of 39 countries and districts worldwide. PE has made important contributions to the research and compilation of major floristic and monographic studies, such as the “Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae”, as well as to the development of modern botany and public education in plant sciences.

         Tel:+86-10-6283 6567;

         Fax:+ 86-10-6259 0843

         E-mail: lqli@ibcas.ac.cn;

         http://pe.ibcas.ac.cn