Collecting Data and Specimens For 

 Study of Economic Plants 



By W. Andrew Archer 

 Botanist, Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations 



INTRODUCTION 



Persons engaged in field work, especially in foreign countries, have a 

 unique opportunity to make valuable contributions to the scientific and 

 practical knowledge of agricultural crops as well as wild-plant products. 

 These contributions may be pressed specimens for identification of the 

 plants, material for study of plant diseases and insect pests, plant prod- 

 ucts for analysis, and seed or other material for propagation. Good 

 photographs or reports describing economic plants, crops, and agricul- 

 tural practices add greatly to the value of specimens. The purpose of 

 this pamphlet is to instruct interested persons in proper methods of 

 gathering, preparing, and shipping such specimens. It is essential that 

 specimens be carefully prepared and that the information accompany- 

 ing them be complete and accurate. 



Only rarely can a satisfactory answer be given to inquiries about some 

 native plant when nothing more is known than its local or vernacular 

 name. A native name for a plant in a foreign country may not have 

 any more significance than would a common name in the United States. 

 A plant called "brown daisy" in one State may well be known as "blue- 

 eyed marigold" in another. In Latin American countries, also, the 

 common name of a plant often varies from one locality to another. For 

 this reason, the local name is not a sufficient clue to the botanical iden- 

 tity of a plant. Likewise, people often send in a single leaf, a piece of 

 stem, or a root only to learn that small fragments are inadequate. Bota- 

 nists need a sufficient portion of a plant, with flowers or fruits, some- 

 times both, in order to identify it and to assign the correct botanical 

 name. The specimen must be pressed flat and dried before shipping. 

 Fresh plants wrapped in oilpaper for mailing usually arrive completely 

 decayed. A plant tucked into an envelope arrives in a shriveled condi- 

 tion or else shattered to bits. The best method of assuring safe shipment 

 is to protect the dried specimen with two pieces of stout cardboard. 



Insect and diseased-plant specimens, as well as analysis and propaga- 

 tion material, also must be adequate in quantity, properly prepared, and 

 carefully packed. Fungi and insects should never be shipped from one 

 country to another while still alive, unless specifically requested by 

 specialists; and in that event special arrangements would need to be 

 made to conform with the quarantine laws of the countries concerned. 



