National Collection of Vascular Plants (DAO)

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) maintains a National Collection of Vascular Plants, internationally known by the acronym DAO (for Department of Agriculture, Ottawa). Located on AAFC's Central Experimental Farm, it is the largest collection of its kind in Canada. Properly called a herbarium, it includes 1.5 million irreplaceable specimens protected in a climate-controlled environment. When adequately protected from moisture and pests, dried specimens can last for hundreds of years in the herbarium. This is a tremendous resource that allows identification of plants from anywhere in Canada and supports research on plant classification worldwide. DAO is working to digitize its holdings and make them accessible online. Datasets will be added and updated as this work progresses. Refer to our website for more information https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/agricultural-science-and-innovation/agriculture-and-agri-food-research-centres-and-collections/national-collection-vascular-plants-dao