BIOTECHNIQUE: HERBARIUM

What is a Herbarium?

A herbarium is a collection of dried and pressed plant specimens, properly mounted, classified
and arranged according to an accepted system of classification and which is available for
reference purposes or other study. These plant collections generally represent, for small one,
plants found in locality or region; bigger ones for the flora of a country, continent or the world.
It is prepared according to some special purposes: economic, medicinal and commercial. Others
for general scientific study or reference either for basic or applied research.

Preparations of the Herbarium Specimen:

 Plant press- consisting of a pair of wood/bamboo or steel frames, 14”x20” provided with
plastic twine or nylon cord to fasten the frames together
 Corrugated boards, aluminium ventilators and newspapers for driers
 Specimen tags of card boards or cartolina, about an inch long with short strings to attach
to the specimen
 Transparent plastic bags, big enough to store the collected unpressed plants, which have
been properly tagged
 Waxed paper or cheese cloth (katsa) to cover succulent plant parts to prevent them
sticking to the newspaper

Collection Data:
A botanical specimen is worthless without any accompanying information. Data should include
the following:

Name of Collector: _Roselle Tadeo____________

1. Locality: ____________________________
2. Local name: ________________________ Dialect:______________________
3. Habitat: ________________________________
4. Description: tree, shrub, bush, herb, color, flower, height,
5. Economic Uses: _________________________
6. Date collected: __February 21,2019__________

Pressing the Plant Specimen:

 Wipe off any dirt and dew from the plant specimen, Use clean tissue paper or clean soft
cloth
 Arrange collected plant specimens including their tags between sheets of old newspaper
in their natural position possible.
 Partially cut the petioles or leaf stalks to show their origin and leaf phyllotaxy
 Discard crumpled, diseased or insect bitten parts
 Fit the plant specimens within the folds of the newspaper and the size of the plant press
 Place more news papers to serve as dryers between the stack of newspapers holding the
specimens and blotters
  Press the whole bundle of sandwiched specimens and dryers between two plant presses
and tie it tightly

Two Methods of Drying the Specimens:

a. Natural Drying –drying under the sun, it may take a few days or a full week. Change the
dryers/blotters and newspapers between specimens daily
b. Artificial Drying- using a heater, stoves or electric bulbs are placed in a cabinet dryer
holding the plant press. Change the dryers/blotters and newspapers between specimens
daily

LABORATORY WORK:
Final Preparation of the Herbarium in the Laboratory
 If specimen is large, bend the plant into a V shape, slit thick stems to avoid breaking
 Spread the flowers to show different views and arrange the leaves in such a way as to
avoid overlapping

Poisoning
 When the specimens were thoroughly dried, they should be poisoned with the following
mixture: 1L denatured alcohol, 12-15g Mercuric Chloride and 10-12cc of Phenol
 The solution may be placed in a porcelain tray, stirred well until all ingredients are
thoroughly mixed
 With a wooden forcep, never with barehands, dip one specimen at a time
 Allow them to drip then re-dry in the plant press
 It must be assured that the specimens are pressed well; otherwise the leaves will wrinkle
 Labels should not be interchanged in the process

Mounting
There are common ways of mounting the specimens:
1. Adhesives – specimens are glued with a colorless glue. Weigh down the specimen until
the glue dries up
2. Tapes – use filament tapes, which may come in various thickness, depending on the
thickness of the specimens. Cellulose, scotch, or plastic tapes are never used. These
tapes deteriorate with age becoming either soft or brittle, discoloured leaving marks on
the sheets
3. Threads - specimens may be sewn on the mounting sheets
4. Combination – combination of the mention above may be used depending on the
specimen

Labelling
 The Herbarium Label contains the collector’s data, the scientific name and other
important data
RUBRICS FOR GRADING:

For the Plant Specimen Collection Activity (50 points)

Labelling Complete labels 20 points

All information included
Pressing Specimens are properly arranged 15 points

Drying Specimens are thoroughly dried 15 points

and in proper positions

Laboratory Work (50 points)

Performance In full laboratory attire and 15 points

paraphernalia
Poisoning Following the instructions 20 points
properly
Re-drying Specimens are thoroughly dried 15 points
and in proper positions

Mounting and Final Product (50 points)

Mounting The specimens are properly 20 points
mounted and labelled
Organization the specimens are arranged in an 30 points
organized manner, neatly made
and pleasing to the eyes