Singapore Herbarium & Plant Taxonomy
Founded in 1875, our Herbarium is a key regional botanical repository and has played a central role in plant and fungal taxonomy, research, and conservation in Southeast Asia for over a century.
Last updated 1 April 2026
Key Figures
1875
Year established
800,000
Number of specimens
10,000
Number of types
1790
Oldest collection
The Singapore Herbarium (SING) houses an extensive collection of specimens, as well as supporting spirit and carpological collections. These mainly include materials from the Malesian region (Peninsular Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea) and adjacent areas (East Asia, mainland Southeast Asia, the Southwest Pacific), with a chief focus on collections from Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia dating from the 1880s.
As one of the region’s most significant botanical collections, the Herbarium has not only supported taxonomic research in Singapore but has played a central role in plant and fungal taxonomy, research, and conservation in Southeast Asia for over a century.
Herbarium Online
The Herbarium uses the Botanical Research and Herbarium Management System (BRAHMS) to computerise plant collection data. Click here to access images of type specimens at SING.
The Herbarium sends material on loan and exchange to recognised botanical institutions (see Index Herbariorum), both locally and overseas.
What is Plant and Fungal Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of naming, describing and classifying organisms, the most basic building block being about understanding "what is a species", including its characters and features. This study is critical because you cannot protect or conserve a species if you do not know its limits, understand its economic uses, pinpoint toxicity or identify the species driving changes in local ecosystems or climate change. This is the foundation of botanical research that the majority of scientists here at the Gardens focuses on. Together with other experts, we publish research findings in our peer-reviewed journal, the Gardens' Bulletin Singapore.
We welcome scientists and researchers to study our specimens. Request to visit
Flora of Singapore Project
We are currently working on a Flora of Singapore to catalogue, describe and key out all species of bryophytes, lycophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants that are native, naturalised and casual in Singapore. Three out of 14 volumes have been published so far, with each plant family assigned to a particular volume.
Dr Jana Leong-Škorničková, Keeper of the Herbarium, studying a specimen under the microscope
Singapore Herbarium Digitalisation Project
To mark the 150th anniversary of the Singapore Herbarium in 2025, the institution embarked on the journey to digitalise its extensive collections, extending online access to these precious specimens throughout the world. When completed, this initiative will establish the Herbarium as one of the most comprehensive online databases of botanical specimens in Southeast Asia.
Plant Identification Service
Locally, the Singapore Herbarium (SING) plays an important advisory role in identifying both wild and cultivated plant species from Singapore.
For information, please contact either
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