The history of the ESA Herbarium dates back to the early 20th century, with the formation of small individual collections of plants of agronomic interest by ESALQ professors. In 1985, mainly through the initiative of Professors Luís Eduardo Catharino, Waldir Mantovani, and Luís Antônio Rochelle, these collections were unified into a single repository. At that time, a continuous accession numbering system was also established, which remains in use today, marking the effective foundation of the ESA Herbarium.

Until 1990, the herbarium was curated by Prof. Rochelle, and from 1991 to 1992 by Prof. Lindolpho Capellari Jr., both responsible for the initial structuring of the collection. From late 1992 to 2023, the herbarium was curated by Prof. Vinicius Castro Souza. In 2024, curation was assumed by MSc. Viviane Jono, and since November 2025 by Prof. Priscila Orlandini. In addition to its curator, the herbarium has an advisory board composed of Prof. Dr. Vinicius Castro Souza, Prof. Dr. Priscila Orlandini, and Prof. Dr. Renato Augusto Ferreira de Lima, as well as technical support from museum research specialist Viviane Jono.

During its establishment and consolidation, the collection initially grew gradually, with significant expansion from the mid-1990s onwards, especially due to research projects conducted within the Department of Biological Sciences, notably those led by Profs. Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues and Vinicius C. Souza. This growth was also driven by an extensive exchange program, initially with herbaria such as BHCB, FUEL, and MBM, and currently involving dozens of national and international institutions.
The development of the herbarium and its associated Systematics Laboratory enabled active participation in large-scale projects, such as the Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo, in which ESALQ played a prominent role. The Herbarium also supports projects from other laboratories, including the Laboratory of Ecology and Forest Restoration (LERF), such as the FAPESP project “Dynamics of Forest Formations in the State of São Paulo: 40 hectares of permanent plots” (initiated in 2002), and the FNMA project “Diversification and Regionalization of Native Tree Matrices of the State of São Paulo.” Currently, the former, under the leadership of Prof. Renato Augusto Ferreira de Lima, is entitled “Diversity, dynamics, and conservation in forests of the State of São Paulo: 40 ha of permanent plots.” Another notable initiative supported by the ESA Herbarium is the project NewFor: understanding restored forests for benefiting people and nature in the Atlantic, led by Prof. Pedro Henrique S. Brancalion.

More recently, the FAPESP thematic project “Diversification and enhancement of records from São Paulo herbaria collections, with expansion of their virtual availability and spatial analyses to advance Neotropical biodiversity documentation,” coordinated by Prof. Dr. José Rubens Pirani, stands out. Additionally, in 2025, the ESA Herbarium was selected as a receiving center for plant specimens from the project Carbon CountDown_BR: platform for decision-making on soil and vegetation carbon in Brazil, funded by private initiative (Shell). This project includes infrastructure improvements and the reception, processing, and incorporation of thousands of plant samples representative of the Brazilian flora, significantly expanding the herbarium’s role in documenting national biodiversity.

Currently, the ESA Herbarium houses approximately 160,000 specimens, making it the fourth largest collection in the State of São Paulo. In 1997, a standardized labeling system was adopted, enabling the digitization of the collection, which began in 2002. This process has been consolidated over time through the use of Excel spreadsheets and, more recently, the BRAHMS system and CRIA support, allowing part of the collection to be available online since 2003 via the speciesLink network. Currently, approximately 111,000 specimens have been imaged and digitized, with ongoing efforts to further expand this number.

The ESA Herbarium constitutes essential infrastructure for teaching, research, and extension activities within the Department of Biological Sciences at ESALQ/USP. It actively supports plant identification demands from different faculty members and institutional projects, and serves as an important repository of the ESALQ flora itself. In this context, several practical activities from undergraduate courses, such as LCB0320 (Plant Morphology and Systematics) and LCB0206 (Forest Systematic Botany), are carried out within the herbarium, strengthening the integration between teaching and scientific collections.

The herbarium also stands out as a taxonomic reference center, with consolidated research in several plant families, including Acanthaceae, Connaraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Ericaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Meliaceae, Myrtaceae, Phyllanthaceae, Plantaginaceae, Poaceae, and Scrophulariaceae. In addition to its scientific role, the ESA Herbarium hosts several outreach and community engagement initiatives. Among these, a project aimed at the 60+ public stands out, involving activities related to the preparation and mounting of herbarium specimens, promoting inclusion, scientific education, and the appreciation of botanical knowledge, led by MSc. Viviane Jono. The herbarium also actively participates in science communication events with schools and the general public, such as FLIPIRA and Bio na Rua, among other outreach activities led primarily by Dr. Joicelene Lima da Paz.

Additionally, in 2025, the digitization of the associated palynotheca (ESA-Pol) was initiated. This collection currently includes approximately 1,700 permanent slides of angiosperm pollen, further expanding access to and integration of palynological data with the herbarium.

The intensive use of the herbarium by different ESALQ departments, combined with the increasing number of visiting specialists, reinforces its strategic role as a scientific infrastructure, contributing not only to the Department of Biological Sciences but to the institution as a whole and to the advancement of knowledge on Brazilian biodiversity.

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Herbário da Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" (ESA)

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