92 BULLETIN 7D0, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



tliough in flower or in fruit, they lack stem leaves, basal leaves, or 

 roots. Numerous plants, including the great majority of sedges and 

 rushes, as well as a large number of borages, crucifers (mustards), 

 mnbellifers (parsnips), and other plants, are unidentifiable, at least 

 as to species, without mature fruits. Wlienever practicable, both 

 flowering and fruiting specimens of leguminous plants, especially 

 lupines and loco weeds, should be submitted. The identification of 

 lupines and loco weeds is often difficult, and the presence of both 

 flowers and pods is sometimes necessary for certain determination. 

 Many others, for example, Ceanothus, are unidentifiable without 

 leaves, and a few, such as water hemlocks (Cicuta) and larkspurs, 

 are more or less dependent on roots for their certain determination. 



In collecting specimens of trees and shrubs, the sprays selected 

 should represent the common leaf and fruit forms. With tree speci- 

 mens small squares of the bark should be obtained whenever conven- 

 ient ; 2 to 4 inches square is sufficiently large. 



All eartji should be removed from the roots of specimens before 

 they are placed in the plant press. If the plant is collected in a wet 

 site, the roots can readily be washed off. If the plant grows in a dry 

 situation, the earth can readily be removed from the roots by tap- 

 ping them gently on the boot heel. Loose soil and grit in the folder, 

 ,which is inevitable when the roots are not properly cleaned, will 

 .work into the specimen and not only render it unsightty, but will 

 often so seriously injure the more delicate structures that identifica- 

 tion is made difficult, or even impossible. All plants should be col- 

 lected in triplicate or quadruplicate. 



METHOD OF DKYING. 



It is necessary to press the plant specimens so that the parts will 

 be flat instead of curled up when dry, otherwise they will be worthless 

 for a permanent record, and either absolutely unidentifiable or else 

 identifiable with difficulty. 



The specimens should be placed between folded sheets of plain ab- 

 sorptive paper, preferably the thin white containing sheets known as 

 species folders. It is desirable that the standardized species folder, 

 IG^ by 23 inches, be used for this purpose, as a standard size and 

 quality facilitate handling. If it is necessary to use folded news- 

 papers in the field, the plants should be transferred to a folder with- 

 out printed or written matter ; otherwise, each folder will have to be 

 looked over carefully for possible notes before it can be discarded; 

 and, besides, it is difficult to number such sheets or write the name of 

 the plant on them and have such data stand out clearly. When the 

 plants are ready for pressing, the sheets containing them should be 

 piled alternately with sheets of blotting paper and placed between 



