Notes on taxonomic techniques 



Lyman Benson 



I. Pressing and Drying Plants 



Salt. Drying of succulent plants may be hastened and im- 

 proved and mold may be discouraged by use of salt. 



Extreme succulents such as cacti, the snow plant {Sarcodes 

 sanguinea Torr.), Pholisnia, or even some Crassiilaceae may best 

 be split with a knife (and a fork for cacti) and perhaps scraped 

 or hollowed like a dug-out canoe and then heavily salted and 

 placed in the open air for a time. After a few minutes or an 

 hour a puddle of brine accumulates in the hollow. This should 

 be drained ofif and then the plant may stay in the open air until 

 visible water is about gone and the specimen has just started 

 to curl. For many cacti this requires about 24 hours. After this 

 preliminary drying, the specimen should be pressed in the usual 

 manner. The crust of salt may be washed away later by sparing 

 use of water, and redrying the specimen by pressing requires 

 only a short time. Cactus flowers may be split and salted also. 

 The use of salt not only speeds up drying of succulents, but 

 also it makes possible almost perfect preservation of color. 

 Sarcodes sanguinea, for example, retains its characteristic red, 

 and cactus flowers retain their coloration. 



Salt is useful also for drying even slightly succulent speci- 

 mens. Sprinkling it over the uncut plant surface hastens drying 

 in even such water-conserving halophytes as Salicornia, A tri- 

 plex, Allenrolfia, and Frankenia, or in corms or bulbs or thick- 

 ened roots or stem bases. A few scalpel slashes on thick stems 

 or roots help the drying process. 



Pressing and travelling. Despite the disrepute of "collecting 

 by the roadside," no one with true botanical blood in his veins 

 can drive an automobile through miles of plants without stop- 

 ping to get them. However, unless some means are available for 

 drying the specimens the result is a sorry mess of brown or 

 moldy plant corpses. In dry regions, a press arranged for the 

 front bumper of the car overcomes the difficulty of dehydrating 

 plants, provided the cardboards are turned so the air flows 

 through the corrugations. It also amuses some travellers and 

 amazes the rest. In the Western States about 50 each of card- 

 boards and blotters will dry large collections, provided field 



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