Important Collections at the National Botanic Garden of Belgium

The Botanic Garden is home to several internationally important collections. Undoubtedly, one of the most importantly is our living collection, containing many rare and beautiful plants.

The living collection is used for research, conservation and education. Two of the most important elements of the living collections are the collection of wild beans and members of the family Rubiaceae, the fourth largest family of flowering plants.

No less important are our collections of non-living material, which includes an substantial herbarium of over 3 million specimens. Our collections of African plants are some of the best in the world and are frequently used by visiting scientists.

In addition there are special collections of wood, fruits and algae; microfilms of historical herbaria such as that of Linneaus; a pollen collection; a color slide collection and Iconotheca of algae, fungi and myxomycetes