ACTIVITY NO. 5 BASIC PROCEDURES IN COLLECTION PRESERVATION AND MOUNTING OF VASCULAR PLANTS

Important means of knowing the natural flora in a locality

Plant collections

What is the purpose of plant collections?

• to document the occurrence of plant species at a particular site

• To provide an accurate detail of plant information for future research

Importance of collecting, preserving and mounting plants?

• the collected plant is processed and stored in an herbariums, a permanent collection of pressed and dried plant specimens

• The herbarium is comparable to a library of preserved plants with the specimens and labeled providing all the information

• It serves as a source of data for research on taxonomy and distribution of plant groups

• It is useful for writing handbooks and floras and as an accurate documentation of information on studies involving plant surveys

What are the techniques and procedures of plant collection?

1. Collecting vascular plant specimens

2. Preserving collected plant specimen

3. Mounting dried plant specimen

In collecting plant specimens what are the material for plant collection?

A. Plant press

B. News papers

C. Camera

D. Prunning shear: to cut plants parts or for trimming large, woody plants to appropriate size

E. Hand held GPS device: for measuring elevations

F. Camera

G. Field notebook: to record habitat and location information

H. Paper tag

I. Ziplock plastic bag

J. Pen/pencil

K. Paper packets

How do you select the plant material?

• select plant specimens in good condition, free of insect damage, rust, or disease

• Choose plants with mature parts I.e with well-developed leaves, stems, roots, flowers, and/or fruits or other reproductive structures

Note: before you start collecting, photograph the plant on site to capture the identifying features of the plant that will be lost once it is pressed and dried

As much as possible collect the entire plant with complete parts. However make sure that the specimen should fit the mounting paper with a standard size of?

11.5 × 16.5 inches (large plant can be folded for pressing or mounting)

• for herbaceous plants, collect the stems, leaves, flowers and fruits if available. Retain as much of the roots as possible while removing excess soil as it may cause dis figuration and deterioration of some plants

• For large plants such as trees and shrubs, collect the twigs or branches with leaves, flowers and fruits if present

Collect the fruits and seeds in a paper packet or paper bag. The paper bag will be hung separately for the fruits and seeds to dry (air dried)

Collect duplicates of the plant including flowers and fruits. You will use the duplicate specimens to characterize and identify the plant using taxonomic keys

As each plant is collected, tag the specimen and assign a collection number

• use a waterproof tag and pen to write your name or initials and collection number on one side and the date and site number on the other side

• Press the plant immediately using a plant presser or wrapped in several folds of newspaper papers and place into a collecting bag. Pressing of the plant for preservation purposes should be done immediately or within a few minutes upon collection in the field

In recording the data record the?

The geographical and other data for each plant specimen in a field notebook

What are the other informations necessary for data collection?

Aside from the collectors name, collection number and site, the following information should be recorded before you leave the collection site

A. Precise locality where the collection was done (province, municipality, town or city)

B. GPS location: this can be recorded as latitude and longitude including altitude in meters above sea level (masl)

C. Habitat (site) data including type of soil (sand, clay, loam), topography (alongside a mountain trail), amount of sun exposure, proximity to water source

• Record whether the collection site was a distributed site such as a roadside, burnt area or grazed fields

D. Description of the plant collected at the site, such as height, form, presence of rhizomes, presence and color of sap in cut stems, and flower color

• include an estimate of the relative abundance of the species, particularly for rare or threatened plants

Preserving collected plant specimens: after collection, the plants sample should be?

Should be preserved for the purpose of long term storage. There are two steps in preserving your collected plants: pressing and drying

Is the process of laying the plant specimens in folded sheets of newspaper separated by corrugated cardboard sheets an placing them in a plant press.

Pressing

• the plant press is then tightened with straps

What is the purpose of pressing the plant?

• Pressing flattens the plant for easy handling and removes the moisture to help preserve the plants.

• Correct pressing prevents plant parts from curling or wrinkling during the drying process, and allows the plant parts to be visible for identification

The main piece of equipment for pressing the plant is a?

Plant press

• two wooden panels measuring 12” × 18” laid side by side and tightened with adjustable straps

• Several newspapers and sheets of corrugated cardboard to layer between plants in the press

Pressing the plant: pressing procedures

1. Arrange the presser parts in the order they will be used: wood panels measuring, corrugated cardboard, newspapers, and plant specimens

2. Place the plant to be pressed on the right half of the newspaper fold. Arrange the plants carefully to avoid overlapping of plant parts

   • trim unnecessary parts when needed

   • Turn over some leaves or part of a single large leaf to show the underside

   • Open some flowers to show the arrangement of floral parts and the presence or absence of floral parts ex: bracts

   • Long slender plants can be folded in a zigzag fashion to fit inside the newspapers sheet

3. Large plant parts of trees and shrubs should be bend or cut so as not to protrude outside the presser. Turn over some leaves or part of a single leaf to show the underside

Pressing procedures: mounting

1. Place one corrugated cardboard sheet on the base panel of the plant press

2. Place one or two sheets of newspapers on top of the cardboard before overlaying the newspaper sheet containing your plant to be pressed

3. Place another corrugated cardboard sheet on top of the first plant specimen

4. Overlay the second plant specimen on top of the corrugated sheet along with several sheets of newspapers

5. When the press is full, place another corrugated cardboard sheet on top before placing the cover panel of the plant press

What is the arrangement of newspapers sheets and corrugated cardboards

1. Base panel of plant press

2. Corrugated board

3. Plant specimens with several sheets of newspapers in between

4. Cover panel of plant press

• tightened press with plant specimens. Press the plants within two or three days until dry. Check and change damp newspapers and remove specimens as they become ray

Involves the exposure of the plant to “dry” air for a period of time, while maintaining the specimen in the press

Drying

• plants can be kept in the press and stored in a hot an dry location, such as a sunny spot, attic, garage or car trunk

• Changing of the newspaper sheets is done from time to time to speed up the drying process and tightening the pressing strap daily as the specimens dries

Is the process of attaching a dried pressed plant and its label to a sheet of thick paper

Mounting

• this provides physical support that allows the specimen to be handled and stored with a minimum of damage

Mounting materials should include the following:

• white vellum board (cartolina size)

• Cut into 11.5 × 16.5 inches

• Glue

• Masking tape and scissors

Mounting procedure

1. Lay out the plant of the mounting paper to determine the correct position and to allow the best way to observe its identifiable characteristics

   • position the plant in a life-like arrangement (that is with roots or lower stem toward the bottom of the sheet and flowers toward the top)

2. Once the arrangement has been determined, attach the plant to the sheet using a combination of glue and strips of masking tape

   • glue is used sparingly. Masking tapes are then applied to straighten the portion of the plant that might be torn loose as the specimens is used or studied

3. Glue paper packets containing fragments of the specimen (such as fruits or seeds). Ear the upper edge or sides of the sheet after the specimens are mounted

4. Glue the label to the bottom right corner of the mounting sheet

How to store mounted plant specimens?

1. Place the mounts inside a cover page of folded stiff paper. A chip board measuring 13 × 18 inches when folded can be used as a cover page

2. Classify or group the mounted plants by family and place inside a separate cover page per family

   • label the cover page (with the family name of the plant) and store in a mounting cabinet

3. Place the mounting cabinets in a well ventilated room under conditions of low temperature and humidity