Whitetinge sedge (Carex albicans Willd. ex Spreng. var albicans) Collected by Lewis David de Schweinitz, circa 1812–1821, unknown maker from the United States

An herbarium is a systematically arranged collection of preserved plants. The R. L. McGregor Herbarium houses approximately 400,000 specimens collected over the past 150 years. These include dried plant specimens (exsiccatae), seeds, and boxed and fluid-preserved vascular plant specimens. The herbarium also houses the largest single collection of plants from the grassland biome of central North America, as well as the largest collections of lichens and vascular plants from Kansas.

The sharp leaves and stem edges of the genus Carex give it its name, which derives from the Latin secare, meaning “to cut.” This specimen was collected by Lewis David de Schweinitz (1780–1834), presumably while he lived in Salem, North Carolina, and is one of the oldest specimens in the McGregor Herbarium.