The KSU Herbarium had a modest beginning and grew slowly during the first 20 years. Early campus political turmoil and inadequate funding created difficult circumstances and a high faculty turnover. Dedicated individuals, who recognized the value of a botany reference collection, persisted. These individuals and others who followed made the KSU Herbarium the largest in the state throughout its first century and primary in providing applied research and public service. The extensive historical holdings (pre-1900) are unique in the state and significant in supplying solid data for measuring floristic changes as well as for fundamental botanical studies. Today the KSU Herbarium contains collections of bryophytes, seeds, algae, pollen, and fossil plants. The vascular plant collection numbers ca. 185,000 specimens.