TODAY'S HOURS: 8 AM – 6 PM

*Last entry is an hour before closing

TODAY'S HOURS: 8 AM – 6 PM

*Last entry is an hour before closing

Ericales Program Overview

The plant order Ericales contains ca. 8000 species of flowering plants distributed in 22 families. The order contains a number of economically important edible plants, including tea (Camellia sinensis), kiwi (Actinidia), persimmon (Diospyros), Brazil nut (Bertholettia excelsa), star-apple (Chrysophyllum cainito), and blueberries and cranberries (Vaccinium), as well as popular ornamental plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons (Rhododendron), primroses (Primula), Impatiens, Erica, Phlox, and Camellia.

FWBG | BRIT Research Teams Awarded More Than $1.95M for Plant Exploration at Home and Abroad

Last December, two BRIT botanists and their teams of colleagues were awarded separate grants from the National Science Foundation’s Systematics & Biodiversity Science Program for a combined total of $1,950,000. Dr. Alejandra Vasco, a fern expert, and her team of colleagues will receive $1.1M over four years to support the project “Accelerating Lineage Discovery to […]

A Brand New Wintergreen (Plant, Not Gum)

BRIT’s new Herbarium Director Dr. Peter Fritsch and his Chinese colleagues published an exciting new species discovery in October: Gaultheria gonggashanensis, in the wintergreen genus of the heath family (Ericaceae). The species is named for its unique home on the slopes of spectacular Mt. Gongga in western Sichuan Province, China. Peter and his colleagues knew of the existence […]