The algology and lichenobryology laboratory of the Institute of Botany of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan operates in the direction of the inventory of algological and lichenobryological species of marine, water, and land ecosystems of Azerbaijan, determining and studying their distribution ways, enriching the herbarium and algotheca fund with new species. In 1941, based on many years of experimental scientific experiments, information, and literature bases, as well as as a result of the inventory of species, the Herbarium fund was established under the Algology and Lichenobryology laboratory.  Algae fund belonging to the laboratory is called algotheca.  In the algotheca, which has important information, each copy is protected under special conditions, noting the place and date of collection.  There are a total of 2,813 specimens in the Herbarium.  These specimens include 1,500 species of algae, 811 species of lichens, and 502 species of mosses.

Algae specimens include specimens collected from the southeast of the Greater Caucasus, Kura intermountain depression, Lesser Caucasus, Lankaran, and the Caspian Sea.  Also, there are more than 1000 permanent preparations in the algotheque, which are currently used for electron microscopy.  The fund contains very rare, endangered, even moss specimens collected by eminent scientists back in the 1800s.  Based on this, we can say that it is important to preserve the herbarium base of the fund and pass it on to the next generations.  Lichen specimens are also important for the herbarium.  The herbarium contains not only specimens of the flora of Azerbaijan but also specimens of the flora of neighboring countries.  The oldest lichen specimenon the herbarium belongs to 1844.