Botanical Techniques

BASIC BOTANICAL TECHNIQUES FOCUSES ON 1) Collection and preservation of plant materials 2) Documentation of plant materials

Looking for plants

Where and when to look for plants

The most important part of every collected specimen is the flower Almost all natural environments are suitable for searching for plants for the herbarium Even in the cities it is possible to look for plants, just do not take specimens from the parks and gardens!

Tools

Trowel Cutters Plastic bags Knife Ropes Camera! Etc.

Recording Data

locality: be precise, if possible include the longitude and latitude and also a sketch map if useful

habitat and ecology: terrain characteristics, vegetation type, associations with other plants plant habit: describe the overall size and shape of the plant (tree, bush, epiphyte etc.)

stems and trunks: height and diameter; color, texture, thickness and hardness; the presence of thorns and spines leaves: deciduous or evergreen; color, texture and overall aspect; orientation; exudate or glands

Recording data

inflorescence and flowers: note of everything that could be undetected in prepared specimens; color; monoecious or dioecious; different behaviour (open / closed) during the day; exudate or glands; pollinators fruits and seeds: size, shape, color, texture; smell

underground organs: take some samples or describe them (size and shape, tap root, tubers, bulb etc.)

scent: record any particular scent, especially of cut parts and flowers sap or latex: note the color, smell, consistency etc.
name: record the locally used name(s) uses: record the uses, getting confirmation

Processing plants

Drying specimens Special treatments Preparation for herbarium sheets: mounting and arrangements Labeling

Mounting

Labeling

A herbarium label should contain the following:

Institution with which the collector is affiliated Genus, species, author names Family name Date of determination of name Locality Vegetation and habitat Plant description Collector's name Collecting date

Example

The New York Botanical Garden Plants of Bolivia

Poulsenia armata (Miq.) Standl. Moraceae det. M. Nee, 1991 Depto. Sta. Cruz, Prov. Ichilo, Parque Nacional Amboro, Rio Saguayo near mouth of Quebrada Yapohe. Secondary tropcal evergreen forest enar camp around abandoned slash and burn plot. Young tree, 2 m. tall; sap milky Coll: M. Nee 40910 June 11, 1991

The Herbarium

I. A Plant Morgue An herbarium is a collection of pressed, dried, and labeled plants (and may also include other types of collections including wood or seeds).

Perhaps a less morbid analogy is that an herbarium is a reference library of plants.

It is generally agreed that Luca Ghini (14901556), Professor of Botany at the University of Bologna, prepared the first herbarium specimens as we recognize them today. His students, Cibo, Turner, Aldrovandi and Cesalpino also made herbaria, some of which still exist Another contender for the oldest herbarium specimen is an olive branch removed from King Tuts tomb

How valuable are herbaria?

Monetary Value. Herbarium specimens can be considered priceless (since they are irreplaceable) or nearly worthless Whatever the figure, none take into account the intrinsic scientific value of the specimen.

Scientific Value. The information content of a herbarium is tremendous. Herbarium specimens document: (a) the appearance of a plant in a particular locality at a particular time of year; (b) the range of variation within a species; (c) the nature of evolutionary processes; and (d) when a particular plant flowers or fruits (phenology). They also (e) provide material for study away from the field or at another season.

And, they serve as: (f) vouchers, or voucher specimens, that document the identity of plants used in taxonomic, chemical (i.e., DNA), or cytological (i.e., chromosome counts), or other studies, and as (g) type specimens specimens upon which names are based. Finally, (h) herbarium specimens may have a wealth of information about the medicinal or food or utility of the plant

Herbaria around the world

Large herbaria include (# specimens in parentheses): Museum of Natural History, Paris (8.8 million); Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (7 million); Komarov Botanical Institute, Leningrad (5+ million); NY Botanical Garden (5.3 million); Harvard (combined herbaria, 4.8 million); US National Herbarium (4.4 million), Smithsonian (4.1 million); Field Museum of Chicago (2.4 million) (data from Index Herbariorum).

Identification and labeling

Identification
Identification is defined as associating an unknown entity with that is already known; or at least recognize that the unknown doesn't have a known counterpart (= new species).

How?

Asking an expert Hunting-and-Pecking (specimen comparison) Using a taxonomic key