THE MAKING OF AN HERBARIUM. 

 By Willard N. Clute. 



FIRST PAPER COLLECTING. 



THERE are many ways of making an herbarium, but few ways 

 of making a good one. A certain amount of experience is 

 necessary to obtain the best results, and it may almost be set 

 down as an axiom that a really valuable herbarium cannot be 

 made until the maker has served an apprenticeship in the art. In my 

 opinion, however, even the beginner's herbarium is susceptible of 

 much improvement if proper directions are carefully followed, and in 

 the hope of providing these directions the following pages are presented. 

 Since nearly all young botanists collect only the flowering plants, I 

 shall at present confine my remarks to this branch of the subject. 

 The real making of the herbarium begins in the field with the 

 collection of the specimens. It seldom happens that the beginner has 

 a proper appreciation of the value of roots and stems or, in fact, of 

 any part of the plant except the flower and a few of the leaves on the 

 stem near it. But if it be remembered that the herbarium is the best 

 means we have been able to devise for preserving plants for study and 

 comparison at times when they are not in condition in the field, the 

 importance of securing in such specimens everything that will be of 

 use in studying them, is apparent. 



The whole plant, including the roots, should always be taken 

 when practicable. In annual plants, a single specimen may show 

 buds, flowers, fruit, leaves and roots, but in others it may require sev- 

 eral collections of the same species before all parts are well repre- 

 sented. In addition to this, it is well to collect every variation from 

 the normal, for these latter often throw interesting side-lights upon 

 the evolution and relationships of the plants. In a word, the speci- 

 mens of any species should represent as nearly as possible all phases 

 of that species. By keeping this in mind, the collector should find 

 himself in possession of materials for an ideal herbarium at the end 

 of the season. It will require some botanical knowledge, however, 

 to collect to the greatest advantage. In some families of plants cer- 

 tain characters are given special importance in the identification, and 

 the plants must be collected when these are at their best. Thus in 

 the cress, sedge and parsley families, mature fruit is of prime import- 

 ance, and ferns without fruit are of little value. As a general thing, 

 representative specimens of a plant are taken after it has been bloom- 

 ing some days, in which case it will usually show buds, flowers and 

 young fruit. 



