University of Lethbridge Herbarium (LEA)
University of Lethbridge Herbarium (LEA)
The University is located on traditional Blackfoot Confederacy territory. We honour the Blackfoot people and their traditional ways of knowing in caring for this land, as well as all Indigenous Peoples who have helped shape and continue to strengthen our University community.
Who We Are
LEA is dedicated to collecting, processing, digitizing, filing, and storing all vascular plant specimens that have been collected under appropriate permits or gifted from other researchers or herbaria. This website was created as an initiative to promote the herbarium's presence, share our collection with other herbaria, and store research vouchers from researchers in all disciplines.
Our aim is to provide users with relevant links to current herbaria-related research, provide information on our on-campus collection, share online resources to all things botanical, and also to provide information on upcoming botanical excursions or events.
The scope of it all
At LEA, we don't just house dried plants. We are a resource for botanists, ecologists, other researchers, and students. Having a collection of different species found in nature helps to document the vascular plant diversity we see today, so that we can use this information to compare changes in the future.
Photographed by J McCune
November 24, 2021
Lost in a sea of green
Adenocaulon bicolor W.J. Hooker (pathfinder) shown here was aptly named because the fuzzy white underside of the leaves would become more visible if one tramples over these species in the endless green forest understorey.
Photographed by T Chisholm
July 9, 2021
Flowers among the flowers
Did you know that the head of a sunflower is composed of many smaller flowers called ray (the pretty petals) and disc (the middle bit) flowers? Examining these characteristics can lead to proper identification of the Asteraceae family.
Photographed by T Chisholm
July 22, 2020
News & Events
Greetings! We have greeting cards!
LEA is proud to present our first printing of four different greeting card series! Each card displays a unique photo of herbarium voucher specimens found in our physical collection. Collect one of each from our currently available series: ‘Rare Alberta Plants’, ‘Spring Bloom’, ‘Packera’ and ‘Moonwort’! Available for a limited time only! Multiple print service available upon request: chisholm@uleth.ca
Awaakaasoomahka saahmiss siikootahksin
Established 2024, this is a student lead special collection housed within the LEA. The aim of this project is to bridge together traditional knowledge of the Niitsitapi with western scientific practices.
Herbarium Volunteer Opportunities!
Join Jenny Burke in the LEA to learn how plant specimens are collected, identified, preserved, maintained, and then used as part of an educational scientific collection. Whether you're experienced with plants or just curious to learn, we'd love to have you!
For further information contact -