[11] DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING PLANTS KNOWLTON. 



"In this book should be jotted down any such observations as one 

 can not trust to memory, as the color of flowers (a very fleeting thing), 

 the height of the plant, perhaps the character of the soil, the associa- 

 tion and prevalence of particular plants in the vicinity, and the correl- 

 ative insects. As in these days sciences are so interwoven with each 

 other, it may even become necessary or desirable to record altitude or 

 meteorological phenomena." (Bailey.) 



[I. — Directions for Collecting Plants. 



PHANEROGAMOUS PLANTS AND VASCULAR CRYPTOGAMS. 



FLOWEUING PLANTS, FERNS, HORSETAILS, ETC. 



" It is an art to collect plants properly. As regards their collection, 

 plants may be divided into two general classes — herbaceous and shrubby 

 plants. All herbs of moderate size and height should be collected en- 

 tire. 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 

 plant 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 importance. Even the dead 

 leaves about the base are distinctive and should never be torn oft". 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. No part of the 

 plant is more characteristic than its root. It must not be forgotten that 

 ■every plant, except epiphytes and parasites, has a subterranean as well 

 as an aerial portion, and where only one is exhibited only half of the 

 plant is represented. Of course there are many i3lants, even herba- 

 ceous ones, whose roots can not be reduced to dimensions adapted to a 

 herbarium, but wherever it is possible the entire specimen, root and 

 stem should be secured. Much larger jjlants may thus be 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 parts of the stem. 



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

 twigs should be coUectedj 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 all these parts. 

 Often, as in many Cruciferfe, all these can be found combined in the 

 game specimen at once, but in most cases it requires at least two sepa- 



