212 , FLORA OF WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. 



he has studied its parts and through tliis real knowledge of the plant 

 obtained the comparatively unimportant knowledge of its name; and 

 thus we reach the paradox that the more ignorant the beginner is at the 

 outset, and the less he is helped, the better will be his ultimate acquaint- 

 ance with botany if he perseveres in the work. 



2. — Collection of plants. 



As already remarked, it is an art to collect plants properly. As re- 

 gards their collection, plants may be divided into two general classes: 

 herbaceous and shrubby plants. All herbs of moderate size and height 

 should be collected entire. It is not sufficient to break or cut them off 

 at such a point on the stem as will insure a specimen of the proper 

 length. Every part of a iilant has a character of its own and one 

 which should be represented in the collection. The leaves of most 

 herbs vary in form at different points on the stem, and the same is 

 generally true of the degree of pubescence, which is a character of the 

 first iDiportance. Even the dead leaves about the base are distinctive 

 and should never be torn off. If radical leaves exist, they should 

 be collected with great care, and to secure these it is often necessary 

 to collect them at a different time of the season from that in which the 

 flowers are obtained. isTo part of the plant is more characteristic than 

 its root. It must not be forgotten that every plant, except epiphytes 

 and i)arasites, has a subterranean as well as an aerial portion, and where 

 only one is exhibited but half of the plant is represented. Of course 

 there are many i)lants, even herbaceous ones, whose roots cannot be 

 reduced to dimensions adapted to a herbarium, but wherever it is pos- 

 sible, the entire specimen, root and stem, should be secured. Much 

 larger plants may be thus collected than is often supposed possible, as 

 will be explained presently. 



For large herbs with spreading branches the best that can be done 

 is to collect the flowering portions in specimens of suitable size and 

 supplement them with leaves selected from lower jiarts of the stem. 



As regards shrubby plants and trees, the flower and leaf-bearing 

 twigs should be collected, and if the leaves vary on different parts of 

 the plant the different forms should be collected. Occasionally it is 

 desirable to strip off' a portion of the bark as a distinctive part of the 

 species in question. 



The representative parts of every plant are flowers, fruit, and leaves, 

 and no specimen can be regarded as complete without .ill these parts. 



