There are two major groups of seed plants: angiosperms and gymnosperms.
Flowering plants - Angiosperms
Angiosperms are commonly called flowering plants they have seeds enclosed within a structure called a carpel. The collections are divided into three geographic areas:
British and Irish flowering plants
The herbarium covers 98% of the British and Irish native flora and covers a time-span of over two hundred years including collections from J. H. Balfour (1808-1884) and G. C. Druce (1850-1932). The collections are particularly rich in the local flora containing the collections of local prominent botanists such as J. A. Wheldon (1862-1924), Vera Gordon (1916-2003) and Eric Greenwood.
European flowering plants
The European herbarium is particularly significant as a repository of material consulted during the preparation of 'Flora Europaea', a project initially based at the University of Liverpool. As a result of the activity generated by this project, it received numerous foreign collections in exchange for material obtained during fieldwork in Europe, particularly from countries bordering the Mediterranean.
Extra-European flowering plants
This collection is subdivided into the following geographical areas: North Africa; Atlantic Islands; Orient; Asia; Africa; North America; Central America & Caribbean; South America; Australasia and Oceania.
Gymnosperms have no enclosing carpel and the name means 'naked seeds'. This is a small collection of approximately 1000 specimens (mainly British) it includes cycads, conifers and yews.