• Plant collection
• Plant specimens

Herbarium operation, Download

Precautions for plant specimens

• The collection of plant specimens is essential for taxonomic study.
  A plant specimen prescribes a species, proves its variability, and becomes one of the major materials for floristic study, as evidence of experimental study. Plant materials must be selected, prepared, and preserved carefully. The taxonomical plant scientist should record the location and habitat information of plants observed outdoors.
• Variations in the same group or species must be evaluated in different environments. It is required to observe whether the variation is made by crossbreeding or changes in soil, humidity, inclination, and light. Because it is difficult to observe these characteristics in dried material, it should be evidence from a living plant, for instance, a flower’s color and fragrance.
  Species that reflect environmental confusion and fires, grazing, and reclamation should be recorded. These direct facts about plants obtained through outdoor observation cannot be replaced.
• Specimen collection by students forms the basis of the practice and study of plant phylogenetic systematics. The best specimen for ideal identification and study is a complete plant body without damage. Identification using only a flower or a leaf is likely to fail, as this specimen has little or no scientific value. For small annual species or some perennial herbaceous plants, it is possible to collect the whole plant.
  However, it is too difficult to collect an entire tall tree. For the underground part of perennial herbaceous plants, the collection of its hypogeal stem, root, or scaly bulb is required.
• It is essential to collect a typical leaf and reproductive structure. The flowers, fruit, and seeds of a flowering plant are particularly important, and their reproductive characteristics are mostly used as classification keys for identification.
  Different leaves from tall grasses, shrubs, and tall trees are also very useful. An individual plant able to represent all aspects of the natural population must be selected. Plants that are deformed or damaged by insects should be avoided. Pressed and dried specimens should present the maximum amount of information related to the living plant and represent the population.

Compression and drying of plant specimens

Five tools are needed to collect plants.

• If possible, plant specimens should be compressed immediately after collection. It is possible to compress 100 species with 100 sheets of newspaper. The same evening or in the morning on the next day, the newspaper should be exchanged and drying and compression of the specimen performed. Meanwhile, loosening the compression and rearranging the specimen improves its quality. It is also possible to obtain a good quality specimen by wrapping and rolling newly collected plants in newspaper while working outdoors. Of course, wrapping the whole specimen is required. Tag or label a wrapped bundle. By collecting specimens through this method, they can be maintained for 20 hours.
• Uncompressed specimens outdoors are usually compressed by drying. When a plant is compressed outdoors it is possible to obtain a higher quality than by compressing it by putting it into a bag after wrapping it. The weakness of outdoor compression is that only small amount of specimens can be collected in a day. While it is possible to collect about 100 specimens a day using outdoor compression, it is possible to collect at least 300 specimens a day by using a collection bag.
• It is very important to arrange the specimens and put them between newspaper sheets, and requires careful attention. The condition of the specimen depends on how it is dried and compressed. Overlapping of leaves or other plant parts must be avoided, as overlapping parts may delay drying and reduce the quality of the specimen. If possible, always arrange at least one leaf (or some multiple leaves) bottom side up. This allows observation of the bottom side of a leaf when the specimen is attached to paper. Soil and other things on the underside of a plant should be removed prior to compression.
• Avoid confusion of data by compressing only one specimen in each sheet of newspaper. For small plants, it is desirable to arrange more than one plant of the same species if it does not cause confusion. A long, thin plant can be folded into a V or W shape. It is necessary to cut a large plant into pieces. For a large organ such as a fruit, it is possible to reduce its thickness by slicing it. Both the longitudinal and cross sections of fruit are very useful for observation. In order to avoid having thick stems, fruit, or other organs burst, it is advisable to provide newspaper or natural foam rubber padding. A conifer is stored by tagging it with a unique collection number.
• When extra flowers, fruit, or broken or detached parts are put into a bag and attached to a corner of the specimen, it provides great help in investigating or researching the specimen.