Initiated in 1912, the vascular plant collection has the longest history of all UBC collections. Serving as the demonstrator in charge of the Herbarium and Botanical Garden, “Botany John” Davidson created both the UBC Herbarium and Botanical Garden, as well as the Vancouver Natural History Society.

While the Herbarium is home to the world’s largest collection of British Columbia vascular plants, it is global in scope. Of the 223,000 vascular plant specimens, 45% are from British Columbia, 25% from the rest of Canada, including the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory. The United States make up about 15% of the collection, with 10% from the five Pacific Coast states (California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska) with Hawaiian plants are especially well represented.