Royal Botanical Gardens Herbarium (Royal Botanical Gardens-HAM)

The Royal Botanical Gardens Herbarium (HAM) houses 62,000 accessioned vascular plant specimens from 191 families. After its founding in 1950, approximately 9,000 specimens were collected by Ecologist Aleksander Tamsalu over the course of a few years. The collection has a focus on the local floras of Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario, with approximately half of the collection from specifically within the Royal Botanical Gardens' Nature Sanctuaries and to a smaller degree, its cultivated areas. Notable specimens include nomenclatural standards of Syringa and type specimens of the Gentianaceae as described by Dr. James Pringle. HAM is the only Canadian herbarium to accept horticultural nomenclatural standards. HAM incorporated the herbarium of McMaster University, Hamilton College (MCM) in 1966. Other notable, historical collections include those of Christian Broun Ramsay, 9th Countess of Dalhousie, and of the Hamilton Association for the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art. HAM continues to accession an average of 385 specimens yearly.