18 MISC. PUBLICATION 568, U. S. DEP'T. OF AGEICULTUEE 



tant trees. Tree species are probably the least known in tropical floras, 

 owing not only to the great difficulty in locating the flowers but also to 

 the trouble of collecting the material afterward. Hardness of the wood 

 and girth of the trunk often make tree felling an arduous task. Further- 

 more, jungle vines or surrounding vegetation sometimes keep the tree 

 from falling to the ground and make further chopping necessary. A more 

 practical method is to rely upon the help of a native who is experienced 

 in tree climbing. The above-mentioned botanist formerly employed a 

 shotgun to shoot the specimens down. 



Palms 



Palms are highly important economically, but as a group they are 

 imperfectly known botanically. This is partly because satisfactory pressed 

 specimens are difficult, if not impossible, to make. Consequently, good 

 representative material of palms in collections is scanty indeed. The leaves 

 and the flowering and fruiting parts of most palms are so huge that the 

 usual kinds of botanical specimens are entirely inadequate. Neverthe- 

 less, an experienced collector with time and patience undoubtedly could 

 make a valuable series of records. The problem requires a judicious 

 combination of field notes, photographs, and carefully selected portions 

 of the plant to serve as pressed specimens (figs. 22-28). 



The field notes need to be more complete than usual and should 

 include accurate measurements and descriptions of all the various 

 critical parts: Height of the plant up to the leaf crown; diameter of the 

 trunk; length of the leafstalk; dimensions of the leaf; form of leaf, 

 whether feather- or fan-shaped; number and arrangement of the flower- 

 ing and fruiting clusters; of the envelopes or spathes (figs. 24, 28); odor 

 and color of flower; color of fruit; arrangement of leaf scars on trunk; 

 arrangement of spines, if any; etc. It is to be noted that in some kinds 

 of palms the flowers and fruits occur at the same time and in the same 

 cluster. 



A single plant might require six or more photographs (figs. 25-28), 

 including a general view of the entire plant to show its shape, one or 

 two close-up views of the trunk, one of an entire leaf, and one each of 

 the flowering and fruiting clusters. 



The portions selected for pressed specimens conceivably would include 

 the following: A section of the leaf, as large as possible, in order to show 

 attachment of the leaf segments to the midrib (fig. 22); terminal, middle, 

 and basal portions of the leaf; lower portion of the leafstalk to show 

 manner of attachment to trunk, including the leaf-base sheath (fig. 28) ; 

 section of trunk to show spines, if any; portions of both the flowering and 

 the fruiting cluster; and the envelopes (spathes). Note that the parts 

 selected for pressing from a fan-shaped leaf should include the basal 

 portion to show manner of attachment to the leafstalk, which is quite 

 important. The remaining pieces should be cut to give the best repre- 

 sentation of the whole leaf. An extra quantity of loose flowers and fruits 

 is always desirable. The fruits should be complete, including all the 

 outer shells or pulp. 



Bamboos 



Bamboos also present difficulties in the preparation of adequate 

 specimens. Usually the collector does not succeed in gathering the 

 portions needed or a sufficient quantity of material, but patience and 



