About & History
Founded in 1885, MISSA is one of Mississippi State University's long-standing scientific collections.
History of the collection
The Mississippi State University Herbarium (MISSA in Index Herbariorum) was founded in 1885 with approximately 6,000 specimens. Its holdings preserve a record of botanical collecting in Mississippi and the southeastern United States spanning well over a century.
The collection includes noteworthy material associated with southeastern botanists including S. M. Tracy, R. B. Channell, James D. Ray, Jr., and Sydney McDaniel, as well as important holdings from the nineteenth-century western North American collector Marcus E. Jones.
Today, MISSA houses more than 44,000 vascular plant specimens. Although worldwide in scope, the collection has a strong regional focus on Mississippi and the southeastern United States.
Digitization
Digitization of the MISSA collection is continuing. This work includes high-quality imaging of specimen sheets, transcription and improvement of label data, and georeferencing of specimens where appropriate. Digitized records contribute to broader efforts to make biodiversity data more accessible for research, education, conservation, and environmental assessment.