2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The method of herbarization provides for the preservation of plants unchanged, including the natural color of leaves and petals of inflorescences. The dried elements must give a correct idea of the species characteristics and external forms, display natural beauty. With proper drying and storage, herbarium items do not lose color and quality for centuries. Let's take a look at how to properly preserve plants for herbarium
Collection recommendations
You need to start harvesting in dry weather, after the dew has melted, the best time is 11 am. Plants should be selected without damage or signs of wilting. Flowering specimens dry well and retain color if cut early in bloom. Cutting after rain, during fog, late in the evening is unacceptable, since the material will be saturated with moisture, dry for a long time, there will be a tendency to the formation of dark spots, the development of mold.
It is recommended to divide herbaceous specimens of high sizes into 2-3 parts (stem, inflorescence, root system). Not only leaves are selected from bushes and trees, but also truncation of small branches with shoots, fruits, peduncles is used.
Plant drying methods
For work, you need to prepare plywood or thick cardboard, porous paper, cutting tools, large bags for transporting samples. Press, it is desirable to have a professional herbarium, consisting of two frames covered with a net, you can also use a thick book.
When laying for drying, each part of the plant should be carefully straightened and spread out on a flat surface. Nothing can be torn off, you can only set the individual elements in the desired direction, in order to create the optimality of the form. In the case of numerous leaves, some can be removed, leaving the stalks for a better idea of the quality of the growing season. Installation implies an arrangement in such a way that the lower and upper sides of the sheet are visible, since the "wrong" part often differs in color, texture and has its own characteristics. A similar action is carried out with inflorescences.
It is unacceptable to lay 30-40 leaves at the same time - this leads to an excess of moisture, delaying the process, deformation and color change. If you still need to dry a large amount of collected material, then you need to change the wet paper daily and use special absorbent herbarium mattresses. To accelerate the evaporation, an oven or heat radiators are used. It is important to know that with accelerated drying, the material becomes brittle and causes certain difficulties in handling and storage. Drying should take several days.
It is most convenient to use a herbarium press. This method makes it possible to use several sheets with plants at once; with the use of absorbent pads, up to 50 sheets can be mounted simultaneously. The press is laid out in the sun, the gaskets are changed daily. When working with especially succulent plants, replacement is required twice a day.
Thick stems and delicate petals should not be combined under one press. In this case, the process is delayed due to uneven drying and the quality of the final result suffers. In such cases, dismemberment, separate drying, with the subsequent reunification of all shoots is applied. A properly dried plant does not crumble, keeps its shape well, the flowers do not sag, the color is almost indistinguishable from natural. The finished material does not cool to the touch, but gives warmth.
Registration rules
The classical design of the herbarium implies the inclusion of an informational description. The name, date of collection, place of growth (field, edge, meadow, forest, steppe) are entered. You can add information about the places where it is often found. If the plant is unknown, then it is recorded under a number and a conditional name.
How to store a herbarium
Plants treated with herbarization methods are hygroscopic. If stored improperly, they absorb moisture, change color and deteriorate quickly. For the safety of collection samples, it is necessary to provide appropriate conditions: tightly closed cabinets, boxes, a dry room.
In addition to moisture, there is also the threat of insect damage. The dried plant attracts with its smell, it is an excellent environment for feeding and habitat of various types of larvae, ticks, moths, bugs, cockroaches, grinders. Most often these are seasonal phenomena that manifest themselves in the summer, therefore, special control must be carried out at this time. In order to combat, periodic inspections are carried out for damage using mechanical and chemical methods.
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