The Geobotany Department of Moscow State University possesses one of the largest collection of plant in the world. The collection is unique for Russia and contains some dozens of thousands plant images. Plants from various places of the world are represented.

Origin of the Moscow University collection of images is connected with V.K. Ferreyn who was a founder of pharmacy business in Russia and his son A.V.Ferreyn. They purchased many well-illustrated mainly western botanical books of XVIII (40 books) and XIX (158 books) centuries. at the beginning of 1925. Ferreyn' collection of images was obtained by Moscow University.

Collection was founded as a scientific body by the famous Russian botanist Dmitry Petrovich Syreyshchikov (1868 - 1932). Being a well-educated person in Russian and foreigner literature in descriptive botany, he determined almost all plants presented on images as well as edition being sources images. Images determined up to species was arranged according to the A. Engler' system and installed on sheets of Alexandrine paper of the size 25 x 33,5 cm. Images with calligraphic titles and genus numbers according to the Dalla Torre and Harms' «Index...» is situated in special cupboards. After further enlargements, Collection contains more than 80 000 images.

Collection is comparable with collections of plant images in the library of Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, UK and Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburg, Pennsylvania).

Most impressive images of the Collection shall be presented on this web-page.

• Dietrich, David Nathanael Friedrich
  
  Forst-Flora oder Abbildung und Beschreibung der für den Forstmann wichtigen wild-wachsenden Bäume und Sträucher, so wie der Nützlichen und Schädlichen Kräuter. Erster Band. / Dritte Verbesserte und Vermehrte Auflage. 127 ill. kupfertafeln. - Leipzig: Gebrüder Baensch Verlagshandlung, 1860.
  
  
• Watson, P.W.
  
  Dendrologia Britannica, or trees and shrubs that will live in the open air of Britain throughout the year. A work useful to proprietors and possessors of estates, etc. Vols. I-II. 172 tab. col. - London, 1825.
  
  
• Thomé, Otto Wilhelm
  
  Flora von Deutschland: Österreich und der Schweiz in Wort und Bild für Schule und Haus. 4 v.: col. pl. - Gera-Untermhaus: E. Köhler, 1886-89.