Identifications

The Plant Identifications service currently has a backlog of several months—please review the information in this section to determine whether or not your materials should be submitted to us.

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria provides a range of identification services for plants and fungi. Successful identification of material relies on access to the extensive botanical library and comprehensive dried specimen collection held at the National Herbarium of Victoria.

The service is provided to government agencies, consultants, and the general public. 

The plant identification service does not provide:

  • medical advice, although, we will attempt to identify plants suspected in poisonings
  • identifications based on images alone
  • identifications of agricultural plant cultivars
  • identifications of wood and timber
  • identifications of plant pests and diseases
  • identifications of tree roots
  • advice on weed control and herbicide use
  • general gardening advice
  • commercial recommendations, for example in relation to availability of plants for horticulture

Important information about poisonous fungi is available on the Edible and poisonous fungi page.