The University of Oklahoma Biological Station was established in 1949. The land and an unfinished building were deeded to "the Regents of the University of Oklahoma for the sole purpose of establishing and operating a biological experiment and research station and for related scientific and educational purposes", by Norman W. Brillhart, Mildred Colby Brillhart and Mrs. W. H. Colby.  The herbarium is composed largely of specimens from south-eastern Oklahoma collected by students, faculty, and other researchers working at the Biological Station.