The Cryptogamic Herbarium at Michigan State University was created by action of the Board of Trustees of Michigan State University, and Dr. Imshaug was named its first Curator circa 1956. The vascular plant collection was renamed the Beal-Darlington Herbarium, and Dr. Beaman remained as Curator. A separate numbering system was instituted for new accessions to each Herbarium. At the time of separation the Herbarium contained 114,827 vascular plants, and 40,516 cryptogams, of which fungi were the largest component.

During Dr. Beaman's tenure as Curator the Beal-Darlington Herbarium grew at an astounding rate. Over 200,000 specimens were added from 1956-1993. From 1963 to 1968 the Herbarium was housed in the former Chemical Engineering Building (which no longer stands). In the summer of 1968 the Herbarium moved to its present location in the Plant Biology Laboratories building, in a wing specifically built to permit growth of the collections. The vascular plant collection occupied the basement of the two-story east wing of the building, while the Cryptogamic Herbarium moved to three rooms above the vascular plant Herbarium on the first and second floors.

In 1993 Dr. John Beaman retired as Curator of the Beal-Darlington Herbarium, a position he had held for 37 years. Following the retirements of Drs. Beaman and Imshaug, the previously separate Beal-Darlington Herbarium and Cryptogamic Herbarium were incorporated into one unit, the Michigan State University Herbarium. The accessions and records for the two collections were also combined, while the physical facilities remain in separate rooms within the same building.

[Source: "History of the Michigan State University Herbarium", http://herbarium.msu.edu/history.html]