The herbarium committee's study predicted that it would take about 15,000 conservator hours to restore the entire collection, a figure that McCourt calls "really conservative."

The full cost of the project is so far undetermined, but is expected to run into the millions, she said.

The University and the Museum will begin a joint fundraising project later this year to help pay for the enormous project.

The task is complicated by the scarcity of qualified conservators for this kind of glasswork.

"The work can only be done by extremely highly-qualified conservators, of which I'd guess there are only a few in the country," McCourt said.

Even last night's work of opening display cases and removing the flowers required specialized machinery and highly trained workers.

Basseches said the public will have access to at least some of the glass flowers throughout the process.

"We feel it's critically important that not only we do the conservation work well, but quickly," he said. "It's time to ensure that we're being good stewards."