Am.  jour.  Pharm.  ?  Specimens  for  a  Herbarium.  655 
Sept.,  1921.       )  r  J 
COMPOSITE. 
It  is  necessary  with  flowers  of  this  order  to  gently  flatten  the 
disc  florets  to  the  same  level  as  the  ray  florets  by  applying  the  apex 
of  the  flat-iron  to  the  former  before  giving  the  general  pressure  to 
the  whole  specimen;  otherwise,  of  course,  the  ray  florets  will  be 
shrivelled. 
ORCHlDACEvE. 
As  is  well  known,  these  flowers  consist  of  massive  tissue,  and  it 
is  often  advisable  to  remove  the  perianths  and  press  them  separately. 
They  can  all  be  detached  first  by  cutting  across  the  ovary  and  then 
mounted  on.  to  the  remainder  of  the  plant  afterwards.  With  the 
exercise  of  a  little  care  it  is  impossible  to  detect  that  any  separation 
has  been  made.  Such  specimens  as  Ophrys  apifera,  Ophrys  musci- 
fera,  Cypripedium  calceolus  and  Listera  cordata  can  thus  be  pre- 
served with  every  detail  of  their  natural  color  permanently  retained, 
which  is  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  by  the  old  method.  It 
may  be  noted  generally  that  in  all  big  flowers  the  preservation  of 
the  smooth  texture  and  natural  color  of  the  corolla,  or  perianth,  is 
greatly  facilitated  by  dividing  from  the  main  axis,  then  preserving 
and  mounting  separately. 
SPECIAL  FLOWERS. 
J 
Such  special  flowers  as  Drosera  rotundifolia  and  Pinguiculax 
vulgaris  respond  admirably  to  the  ironing  process.  It  is  possible  to 
preserve  them  with  the  insects  caught  by  the  plants,  in  situ.  If  the 
leaves  of  the  former  are  treated  separately,  specimens  can  be  pre- 
pared demonstrating  the  glands  bent  over  towards  the  insect  sit- 
uated on  the  leaf  surface;  at  the  same  time  the  delicate  shades  of 
red  and  green  are  retained.  In  preserving  a  plant  such  as  the  Paris 
quadrifolia,  the  advantages  of  the  new  process  are  very  manifest. 
By  the  original  methods  the  contrasting  greens  become  a  dull  mono- 
chrome, whereas  it  is  possible  by  the  procedure  described  to  per- 
manently preserve  the  delicate  greens  of  the  perianth,  the  yellow' 
anthers,  and  the  shades  of  purple  in  the  ovary  and  stigmas. 
.  VIOLACE^  AND  IRIDACE^E. 
Some  plants,  such  as  most  members  of  the  Violacece  and  Irida- 
cece  will  probably  lose  their  color  quite  irrespective  of  the  method 
employed.  The  plants,  after  this  new  treatment,  are,  however,  so 
hard  and  firm  that  a  way  of  overcoming  the  difficulty  was  found. 
