E. C. Smith Herbarium (ACAD) - Cape Breton University Collection

Occurrence Specimen
Latest version published by Acadia University on Mar 30, 2026 Acadia University
Home:
http://herbarium.acadiau.ca/
Publication date:
March 30, 2026
Published by:
Acadia University
License:
CC0 1.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 2,864 records in English (359 KB) - Update frequency: as needed
Metadata as an EML file download in English (16 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (11 KB)

Description

Today, the E. C. Smith Herbarium contains over 200,000 specimens, including vascular plants, bryophytes, and fungi. It is the largest herbarium in Atlantic Canada and the first Canadian herbarium to have a digital database with scanned images of the collection. The Acadia Herbarium began as an initial gift to Dr. H. G. Perry of a small collection made by G. U. Hay of St. John, New Brunswick. Included in this collection were a few plants collected by J. Fowler of New Brunswick before he went to Queen's University. These first specimens were collected between 1868 and 1880. Some of the plants were cultivated and some were from the United States. Subsequently, in these early years, the additions were made chiefly through the work of Dr. H. G. Perry and his students. No records were available until the collection numbered some 6,000 sheets. Included in the 6,000, however, are a number of sheets from the Gray Herbarium Expeditions to Nova Scotia in 1920 and 1921. Of the specimens above the 6000 count, the majority have been added by the work of Dr. M. V. Roscoe and her students from 1928-1940 and Dr. H. P. Banks and his students from 1940-1946. In 1946 a large collection was being assembled by Mr. David Erskine, who catalogued the Flora of Wolfville and vicinity. During Dr. E. C. Smith's tenure at Acadia (1947-1971) the number of specimens grew from 20,000 sheets to over 70,000. In 1970, Acadia University's Board of Governors announced that the department's excellent collection of plants would be named the E. C. Smith Herbarium as tribute to him for his contributions to the collection.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 2,864 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Newell R, Evans R, Belliveau A, Walker A, Richard J (2026). E. C. Smith Herbarium (ACAD) - Cape Breton University Collection. Version 1.3. Acadia University. Occurrence dataset. https://data.canadensys.net/ipt/resource?r=cbu-specimens&v=1.3

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Acadia University. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 989befd8-6125-4b6a-8f58-51eca5354ae1.  Acadia University publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Canada Biodiversity Information Facility.

Keywords

Occurrence; Specimen; ACAD; E. C. Smith Herbarium; Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens; Cape Breton University; Acadia University; Canada; Nova Scotia; New Brunswick; Maine; Vermont; collection; herbarium; specimens; Canadensys; Occurrence

Contacts

Ruth Newell
  • Originator
  • Curator - E. C. Smith Herbarium
Acadia University
  • 33 Westwood Avenue
B4P 2R6 Wolfville
Nova Scotia
CA
  • 902-585-1335
Rodger Evans
  • Metadata Provider
  • Director - E. C. Smith Herbarium
Acadia University
  • 33 Westwood Avenue
B4P 2R6 Wolfville
Nova Scotia
CA
  • 902-585-1710
Alain Belliveau
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Curator
Acadia University, K. C. Irving Environmental Science Centre
  • 32 University Avenue
B4P 2R6 Wolfville
Nova Scotia
CA
  • 902-585-1335
Allison Walker
  • Point Of Contact
  • Professor and Herbarium Director
Acadia University, Department of Biology
  • 33 Westwood Avenue
B4P 2R6 Wolfville
Nova Scotia
CA
  • 902-585-1333
Allison Walker
  • Point Of Contact
  • Herbarium Director and Professor
Acadia University, Department of Biology
  • 33 Westwood Avenue
B4P 2R6 Wolfville
Nova Scotia
CA
  • 902-585-1333
Steve McNeil
  • Programmer
  • IT Consultant
Wolfville
Nova Scotia
CA
Jennifer Richard
  • Originator
  • Consulting Librarian
Acadia University
Wolfville
Nova Scotia
CA

Geographic Coverage

Primarily the Flora of the Acadian Forest Region. However, there are smaller collections within the herbarium that stem from research initiatives across the globe.

Bounding Coordinates South West [42.56, -74.12], North East [46.31, -59.83]

Taxonomic Coverage

This dataset includes all the Cape Breton University teaching collection that have been digitized, databased and geo-referenced.

Kingdom Plantae (Plants)
Class Equisetopsida (Vascular Plants)

Temporal Coverage

Formation Period 1854-present

Project Data

No Description available

Title E. C. Smith Herbarium Digital Repository
Funding Various; CFI

The personnel involved in the project:

Rodger Evans
  • Point Of Contact

Sampling Methods

All data are manually digitized as text from high resolution scans of each herbarium specimen.

Study Extent Digitization of Vascular plants from the Cape Breton University teaching collection with a focus on plants of the Acadian Forest Region.
Quality Control Records are corrected on an ad hoc basis.

Method step description:

  1. Data are entered into the main database through in-house software, some of which is verified electronically (e.g. all taxonomic data using ITIS).

Collection Data

Collection Name Cape Breton University Herbarium
Collection Identifier CBU
Parent Collection Identifier ACAD
Specimen preservation methods Mounted

Additional Metadata

Alternative Identifiers 989befd8-6125-4b6a-8f58-51eca5354ae1
https://data.canadensys.net/ipt/resource?r=cbu-specimens