The Botany Department Papers consist of 30 unbound volumes of files on specific species of indigenous plants. Each file includes a brief description of the species, its common name, a list of the locations in Massachusetts where it has been studied, and by what herbarium or scientific society. Each file also contains a map of Massachusetts showing the geographic location of the species. The collection seems to have been initially created in 1930, with later updates being entered in 1936.

Arrangement of files within each volume is irregular and sometimes unreliable. Volumes 1-5 are ordered based on the AF number for individual species; however, after volume 5 the files are ordered based on their DH number, which begins to be recorded in the middle of volume 2. An organizational guide based on taxonomy apparently once existed but this has been lost, though the remnants of it can still be found in the folder descriptions for this collection.