University of Oklahoma, Robert Bebb Herbarium (OKL)

The Robert Bebb Herbarium at the University of Oklahoma is jointly administered by the Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology and the Oklahoma Biological Survey. Collections were established soon after OU's inception in 1890, but these were lost in a 1903 fire that destroyed the University. Efforts to re-establish the collection were commenced shortly after this loss, and today the collection includes approximately 250,000 specimens. These are primarily vascular plants from Oklahoma and the Great Plains region. Major contributors to the collections include B.F. Bush, G.W. Stevens, C.S. Wallis, U.T. Waterfall, and G.J. Goodman, who also served as curator from 1933-1936 and 1945-1975. The herbarium was named for Robert Bebb, an Oklahoma florist and amateur botanist who bequeathed his large private herbarium to the university.