THE HERBARIUM 
its Function and Use to the Community 
by NOEL LOTHIAN , Director Botanic Gardens 
The word Herbarium (or Hortus siccus of old 
writers) is used to denote a collection of dried 
plants, systematically named and arranged in 
containers for protection and ready reference. 
Such a collection is not essential, but it is most 
helpful in the study of systematic botany, and 
whenever this study is undertaken (whether 
at an institution or by a private person) an 
Herbarium is usually established. 
The advantage of having a good Herbarium 
available is patent when compiling records 
covering plant localities and habitats, dates 
of flowering, distribution of species, etc. How- 
ever, unless the Herbarium has been properly 
maintained and the initial collections cor- 
rectly made, little advantage is gained by 
poor or incomplete collections. 
METHOD OF COLLECTING 
Many specimens in Herbaria throughout 
the world are fragmentary, and consequently 
of little use to a critical worker. This con- 
dition may be due to the difficulty in collecting, 
e.g. insufficient collecting equipment, difficult 
climate, i.e. tropics; but more often because 
insufficient care and attention has been given 
to the plant material at the time of collecting. 
When collecting, every effort should be 
made to collect representative material of the 
particular species required. For woody plants 
a series of specimens showing twigs, leaves, 
flowers as well as fruit should be made, while 
with herbaceous plants (and if the size of the 
plant permits) the whole of the plant, includ- 
ing roots or root stock, but anything less than 
a representative collecting is of little use. With 
tall-growing herbaceous plants, basal as well 
as stems and leaves must be collected. But 
collecting the specimen is only half the job. 
Sufficient details regarding the collecting 
locality, such as its name, habitat of the plant, 
associations, date, etc., must also be carefully 
recorded. So that this information will not 
become separated from the specimen, a col- 
lector’s (or field) book is usually kept. At 
each collecting site relevant data such as stated 
above are recorded. Each plant, as it is col- 
lected, is recorded in the field book, then num- 
bered, and a tag bearing this number is then 
attached to this specimen. Should seed be 
collected, this is given a similar number. In 
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