IMPORTANCE OF HERBARIA 
this way details concerning a particular speci- 
men are recorded in permanent form. 
DRYING OF SPECIMEN 
Field presses may be used or the collected 
plants placed in a suitable container and 
pressed at the end of the day’s collecting. A 
number of types of presses are available, but 
those which are built up of layers of news- 
paper and corrugated cardboard, and held 
together by straps, prove very satisfactory. 
During the first week in the press the plants 
will need dry papers nearly every day. 
In relaying out the specimen, care must be 
taken to ensure that it is displayed to the best 
advantage. After the specimens are dried they 
should be poisoned with a solution of cor- 
rosive sublimate or some other suitable 
chemical. 
MOUNTING SPECIMENS 
Specimens of one species, usually of one 
collecting, are mounted on a sheet measuring 
approximately 11 in. x 17 in. Mounting is 
preferred to allowing the specimens to remain 
loose in a folded sheet, as damage to the speci- 
mens can easily occur. At either the right or 
left-hand bottom corner a label is placed, on 
which all relevant data, including the name of 
the plant, locality, collector’s name, etc., 
should be recorded. The mounted specimens 
should then be sorted into species, genus and 
families, and placed in appropriate containers. 
These may be boxes or folders, which can then 
be jdaced in steel cabinets, or other insect- 
proof cabinets. Providing periodic fumiga- 
tion and the constant use of paradichlorben- 
zene in the actual containers is made, care- 
fully dried plant material will keep indefi- 
nitely. 
Herbaria are primarily useful in preserving 
complete collections of a country’s vegetation. 
Frequently specimens held represent extinct 
species, and because of the completeness of 
range of species, these collections are invalu- 
able when compiling and preparing floras. 
Such floras may cover a limited area, or they 
may be nation-wide, but without an Herbarium 
such works can be incomplete. However, it 
must never be forgotten that Herbarium mate- 
rial should be used only to supplement good 
field work, for frequently species described 
from Herbarium material prove to be mere 
forms of an already known and defined 
species. 
While an Herbarium primarily covers the 
indigenous vegetation, the collections should 
include plants commonly cultivated in the re- 
gion. This, of course, will cover exotics, 
whether ornamental or otherwise, and whether 
they are from deliberately planted specimens, 
or adventitious (weeds, etc.). 
In Adelaide the lack of a single unit Her- 
barium has been overcome by that strenuous, 
indefatigable worker, Mr. J. M. Black. Be- 
cause of his untiring efforts a complete flora 
of this State has been produced (and is now in 
a second edition), but had a central Herbarium 
been available Mr. Black’s task would have 
been considerably eased. So that subsequent 
workers will not encounter the same difficulties 
which have been present, due to the lack of a 
centrally situated Herbarium, it is hoped that 
one of these days all interested parties will 
discuss the possibility of establishing such an 
Herbarium. For not only will this assist the 
scientific worker, but will make the determin- 
ing of material sent in by organisations or 
individuals a much simpler task. 
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