PLANT COLLECTION

INTRODUCTION

One of the requirements of Biology 206 is that you make and turn in a high quality collection of plants native to the eastern United States. The trees and shrubs in the collection must be included in the geographic range covered by The Illustrated Book of Trees by W.C. Grimm. Thirty (30) correctly identified specimens will be handed in according to the date indicated in the course syllabus.

The purposes of the plant collection in this course are: 1) to give you independent practice in using technical, descriptive botanical literature to identify plant species you may encounter; 2) to provide training and experience in searching out many kinds of plants and making careful written observations about the plants and their habitats; 3) to train you in the art of making research-quality specimens suitable for the use in a permanent herbarium collection. The collection and identification of plants are very useful skills for anyone who works in the biological sciences, and forms a vital base for those planning to do graduate work in botany or biology.

The ultimate goal of making plant collections and maintaining herbaria is: to preserve for all time a series of specimens representing the flora of a region, along with a set of notes that will yield the maximum information about the plants concerned. Why bother? Among many good reasons, one fact is that the face of the earth (its ecosystems) is changing rapidly, largely because of man's activities. Habitat destruction has been so complete in many instances, that the only surviving records of the native plant life are those preserved in permanent herbarium collections. In my own research, I examined and touched plants collected by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. You could do the same with specimens collected by Carl Linaeus and Charles Darwin or study plants that have been extinct for hundreds or even millions of years.

The directions spelled out in this handout must be followed in detail. The plant collection consists of a series of specimens which are correctly pressed, dried, identified, and accompanied by typed herbarium labels and a one page list of plants. These plants must be handed in all together on the date announced. I suggest that you collect and dry several specimens from each plant and hand in the best one.

Plants may be taken from local woodlands, old fields, roadsides, vacant lots, or any unrestricted area within the range of the manuals and floras used in this class. Many native plants are cultivated and are acceptable, however, ornamental plants such as flowering cherry are not acceptable. DO NOT collect in state, national, or community parks! DO NOT trespass on private property unless you get permission! DO NOT collect on the LHU campus!

This collection is limited to the kingdom Plantae but will be comprised totally of tracheophytes. You are sort of going on a scavenger hunt. Your collection will have a total of 30 different species and will include at least: three herbaceous "wild flowers" in flowering condition from three different families, two oaks, two maples, one hickory, one ash, one spruce, one pine, the PA State Tree, and the PA State Flower.   The rest of the collection can be what ever else you can find.

I do NOT want to see any CHERRIES, CRABAPPLES, PRUNES, APPLES, HORTICULTURAL shrubs or trees. You may not use Ginkgo in your collection. You may not submit poison ivy. If it is a tree and not in Grimm's book or is listed in his book as an introduced tree, DO NOT put it in your collection.

Recording Collection Data

Data for each specimen must be recorded in a field notebook at the time and in the order that they are collected. Only a number should appear on the pressing sheet with the plant. This number is assigned each collection in a simple numerical series, and is keyed to the corresponding number in the field book. Number your plants and take your field notes as you collect.

Write your field notes in a bound notebook (a 6" x 9" steno pad is ideal) not a loose-leaf notebook. Take your field notes in pencil or indelible ink, this way if your notebook gets wet your data won't run. Take your data as you collect; don't trust details to memory. Record necessary data on the plant (e.g. height, elevation etc.) as well as habitat information.

Sample page from book:

HOW TO COLLECT AND PRESERVE SPECIMENS

When you collect your specimen, make sure that you have at least two leaves attached to the twig or branch. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PIECE OF THE STEM YOU WILL RECEIVE NO CREDIT FOR THE SPECIMEN! Your specimen may eventually be mounted on a standard herbarium sheet which is about the size of one printed newspaper page folded in half. To preserve the specimen it must be pressed and dried. Follow these procedures:  

1. Take a piece of corrugated cardboard cut to the size of the folded newspaper and lay it on a flat surface.
2. Place a sheet of newspaper on top of the cardboard.
3. Place your sample on the paper taking care to arrange the leaves so that they are not overlapping.
4. Turn at least one leaf over so both sides of the specimen's leaves can be observed. Do this when you first press the sample because once it is dried it is difficult to make adjustments without damaging the specimen. If the sample is too large to fit on the paper it can be folded.
5. Fold the paper over and place another piece of cardboard on top, then another piece of newspaper with plant, another piece of cardboard, ....... etc.
6. Professional plant pressers use a piece of blotter paper in each of the layers to help absorb water, but this is usually not necessary with the type of specimens you are collecting. Besides the blotter paper is expensive but if you need some see me and I can loan it to you.

Once you have your "leaf sandwich" assembled it has to be pressed and dried. The professional has a ready made plant press but all it is, is two pieces of plywood and a couple of belts. You need the plywood but you can use rope or cement blocks to supply the pressing pressure. I'll show you in lab.

The drying process must take place rather quickly, usually over a few days to two weeks depending on conditions. Put the press in your room by the heat or in the sun. Check the drying process every couple of days and keep the pressure on. Once I tried to speed up this process using a kitchen oven. I set the oven at 325, the temperature at which you cook most meat, and my plant press caught on fire. Microwave ovens don't work well either, I tried them also.

After the specimens are dry, remove them, keeping them in their newspaper sheets, and get ready to finish the project.

Make the specimen label.

The label should be typed on a 3" x 5"  piece of paper and will include the following information:

• Name of the plant (Latin), author citation, family.
• Locality (state, county, town, or highway no. & elevation).
• Habitat (roadside, forest, burned field)
• Date of collection.
• Collector name and number.

You can also set this up in a word processor or data base in a computer. If you are interested in doing this come see me and I will help get you started.

After the labels are typed, insert them in the newspaper with the dried specimens. DO NOT glue or tape either the plant or the label to the newspaper. Stack the specimens between two pieces of cardboard and tie them together with a piece of string. On the due date, turn in your bundle of plants and a list of plant species you are handing in. This list must consist of:

The plant collection will be graded as follows:

Your point total will be converted to a percentage (e.g. 160/180 = 89 %) and this value will contribute to 15% of your course average.

There are specimens in the lab that you can look at if you have any questions about size and arrangement of specimens.

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Last Update: 11/06/09