FIELD NATURALISTS' SECTION OF THE ROYAL 



SOCIETY OF S.A., INC. 



Geographical Distribution of Native Plants in S.A. 



A Committee lias been formed to carry out this scheme 

 which will consist mainly in obtaining specimens of plants 

 FROM ALL PARTS OF THE STATE. It will be necessar.v 

 to depend almost entirely on our friends in the country to 

 collect specimens and forward them. The idea is to record 

 all the plants in the State by actually collecting them and 

 storing them in an herbarium with particulars as to locality, 

 date, collector's name, etc. The herbarium will be available 

 to those interested. 



Will you help us in this work? If so, the hints below 

 will be useful to you. 



HINTS TO COLLECTORS. 



(1) Specimens. A perfect specimen is one which includei 

 not only the flowers but also buds, seed pods, ami 

 leaves all on the one branch (with roots in the case 

 of small annuals and a piece of bark in the case of 

 gums). "Where this is not possible separate branches 

 are necessary. 



(2) Number and Labelling. You are asked to collect two 

 specimens of every plant IN FLOWER (if possible) 

 in your district. Fill in the information asked for 

 on one of the enclosed labels and attach it at the 

 time, so that the specimens will not get mixed. 



(3) Length. Specimens collected should be as large as 

 possible, but, in general, not exceeding 12 inches 

 in length. 



(4) Seed Pods. Seed pods are always required; in the 

 case of gums and wattles they are most important 

 and special attention is requested to these two classes 

 of plants. 



(5) Orchids. Orchids should be cut off just below the 

 surface of the ground (not pulled up). 



(6) Grasses. Grasses (when in flower) should be taken 

 up with the roots and folded if more than 12 inches 

 in length. 



(7) Pressing. Press the specimens between two sheets ol: 

 ordinary newspaper as soon as possible after collect- 

 ing ; place between tv^'o flat boards with weights on 

 top, such as several bricks or stones. Quite a num- 

 ber of sheets with specimens can be placed between 

 the boards. If possible, after tw^o or three days of 

 pressing, see that the leaves are flat (not folded) and 

 that the larger flowers are open, as it is impossible 

 to examine flowers if they are pressed closed. 



