The Vascular Plant Herbarium is a research and teaching resource for the study of evolution, diversity, distribution and ecology of cordilleran, prairie, arctic and alpine plants. It is the largest herbarium of its kind in Alberta, and the third largest in Western Canada. Founded in 1912, the herbarium holds more than 120,000 specimens dating from 1835 to the present and is built upon the collecting activities of faculty members and students, as well as the acquisition of outstanding amateur collections. Though global in scope, the strength of the collection lies in plants of Alberta and northern Canada.