Second to the Economic Botany Collection (EBC) in Kew (London), the Hamburg "Applied Botany Collection" (ABC) is the world's largest collection of economically and technically important plants and parts of plants. It comprises c. 45,000 objects, some of them more than 200 years old, in several sub-collections. Everything is represented, from tiny seeds to giant fruits, infructescences and fibres, as well as known and unknown medicinal plants, wood samples and rare phytopathological preparations. The German colonial period played a major role in the creation of the collection. Therefore, mainly plants from the subtropics and tropics are represented, which were important for Hamburg's trade. But the ABC is not only of interest from a historical point of view. It also offers a rich potential for studies on changes in biodiversity, on micro-evolutionary processes and for the search for plant raw materials to replace fossil raw materials.

With over 1.8 million plant specimens, the Herbarium Hamburgense is one of the largest herbariums in Germany. Among them are 50,000 so-called types (original specimens) from tropical areas such as Brazil, Borneo, India, Australia and from the former German colonies in Africa, from the Pacific islands and from Germany.

Botanical drawings remain an indispensable tool in contemporary botanical research and education, significantly supporting both teaching and scientific work. They allow precise documentation and identification of plant species by highlighting specific features that are often not as clearly visible in photographs.
The family Lauraceae, commonly known as the laurel or avocado family, is one of the most frequent and ecologically significant woody plant families in humid tropical and subtropical forests worldwide. However, our knowledge of this group is still incomplete. Its phylogeny is only partially resolved, and we know little about the biology of most species. Many species within the larger genera are almost impossible to identify due to a lack of keys and recent revisions.
The majority of the detailed drawings in this collection were created between 1982 and 1986 by Jens G. Rohwer during his dissertation work, in which he examined numerous specimens from many herbaria around the world and analyzed their structures. Prof. Dr. Jens G. Rohwer held the position of professor of botany (systematics, evolution, and biodiversity of plants) at our university from 2000 until 2024.
Most drawings were made with a camera lucida, on DIN A6 paper (105 x 148 mm).

The approximately 25-hectare outdoor area of the Botanical Garden of the University of Hamburg (Loki Schmidt Garden) has been located in the west of Hamburg in Klein Flottbek since 1979. The Botanic Garden's show greenhouses are located near the Dammtor, where the garden was founded in 1821.

In the Loki-Schmidt-House Economic plant museum, the diversity and significance of the use of plant resources is made comprehensible and graspable for young and old visitors. Products from economic plants, which we encounter every day, can be discovered.

The Microalgae and Zygnematophyceae Collection Hamburg (MZCH) focuses on over 550 strains of microalgae, in particular Zygnematophyceae, with isolates from various global sites. MZCH serves as a scientific reference collection for work on the evolution of microalgae and their physiological adaptation to extreme sites.