Download Collecting and preserving plant specimens

factsheet
Weed management:
c o l l e c t i n g
a n d
p r e s e r v i n g
p l a n t s
collecting and preserving plants for identification
Herbarium: a collection of preserved plant specimens.
Inflorescence: flowering shoot with more than one
Forb: herbaceous plant that contains little woody plant
flower.
tissue (excluding grasses). Can be annual or perennial.
Propagule: method of multiplication or spread used by a
Shrub: woody plant with well developed side shoots and
plant to reproduce eg seeds, corms, vegetative plant part.
no trunk.
VET sector resource: RTD2004A Collect, prepare and
Tree: tall woody perennial with trunk and few or no
preserve plant specimens; RTC2016A Recognise plants;
branches from base.
Importance of collecting
good specimens
The key to accurate identification of
plants is to supply the agronomist or
botanist with good quality specimens
and sufficient information about the
RTC2401A Treat weeds; RTC3401A Control weeds;
RTC5011A Collect and identify plants.
removing small branches from trees
• flower colour (if present); and
and shrubs;
• bark colour/texture.
• plastic bags, rubber bands and
plants and collection details can be
gloss newspaper and a portable plant
found in the Weeds CRC Factsheet,
press;
Weed management: describing weeds
plant and the conditions in which it
• a pencil or permanent marker;
was collected (photos of the plant in its
• jewellers tags (or similar) to tie to
habitat can be useful).
Supplying inadequate or poorly
preserved and presented specimens will
often lead to rejection of the specimens
for identification.
Always collect several sets of the same
specimen so that you can keep a
specimen for later reference following
correct identification.
Further information on describing
"Esky" if weather is hot OR non-
individual specimens;
for identification.
What to collect
• a notebook for recording details;
Many plants have similar characteristics
• a camera for recording plants in situ
and it is not possible to identify them
and habitat; and
• a GPS or map for accurate location of
specimen source.
Collection details
from leaves alone. Therefore it is
important to supply representative
portions of the plant for correct
identification, particularly flowering
parts and seed pods.
Supplying sufficient information about
Perennial plants
the plant helps with its identification.
Identification of perennial plants will
Record details such as:
often require the inclusion of some
To collect suitable plant specimens for
• name and contact details of enquirer;
underground parts (rhizomes or corms)
identification, it is advisable to take:
• date of collection and locality;
• a digging implement (mattock or
• habitat and occurrence;
Materials required for
plant collecting
spade) to ease plant specimens from
the soil so that roots and other
underground organs remain intact
(never pull plants from the soil);
• secateurs and/or small saw for
• habit (annual or perennial forb;
shrub; tree) and height;
• abundance and area covered;
• soil type;
or pieces of bark with the specimen.
Flowers
Record flower colour, as this may
change when the specimens are dried.
Some plants have separate male and
female flowers so collect both sets of
flowers.
Co o p e r a t i v e R e s e a rch Ce n t re f o r A u s t r a l i a n We e d M a n a g e m e n t • F a c t S h e e t
p l a n t s
Grasses, sedges and small
plants
Include roots, basal leaves, flowers and
fruits. An example of basal leaves are
then placed between rigid boards
away for identification or for storage in
with weights such as bricks or books
a collection).
supplying pressure to flatten the
Short term
rhizomes, corms, tubers, and bulbs if
• Put plants and/or plant parts in a
flowers and fruits. If flowers and fruits
c o l l e c t i n g
p r e s e r v i n g
be laid upon each other. These are
a few days) or long term (to be sent
include underground parts such as
present.
plastic bag with a few millilitres of
Larger plants such as shrubs
and trees
Collect a portion of stem that shows
the branching pattern, preferably with
water (roots toward the bottom of
the bag).
• Have plants tagged with specimen
number, date, collector and locality.
• If the specimen is in sections give
are not present on the same stems,
each sample the same number.
collect several samples. Eucalypts
Writing on bags with waterproof pen
require collection of buds, fruits,
often rubs off, so a pencil written
juvenile and mature leaves, plus a
label inside the bag is preferable.
description of the bark. Record the
• Tie-off the top of the bag. This will
dimensions of the plant and for trees,
maintain humidity and help keep the
note the trunk diameter at 1.2 m.
specimens fresh.
Specimen preparation
Before preserving a plant specimen, it is
important to make sure that:
• all specimens are free of soil.
• roots are gently washed to remove
wet soil. Hard-setting soil may need
to be soaked off to prevent damage
to the roots.
• large plants such as tussock grasses
• Multiple samples in newspaper can
short term (local identification within
a n d
the rosette leaves of brassicas. Always
There are two methods of preparation,
• Keep the specimens out of the sun.
Most specimens can be kept in a
refrigerator for a few days. The main
exception would be specimens with
large, soft flowers.
Long term
• Place the specimens between several
specimens.
• Change the newspaper daily for the
first few days then weekly until the
specimens are dry.
Fleshy or succulent
specimens
Plants such as cacti may need to be
frozen for a few days before pressing.
This ruptures the plant cells and helps
drying. If the specimens are individually
tagged, it makes keeping track of the
correct identification during drying a lot
easier.
Sending specimens to
the herbarium
Keep the specimens between sheets of
newspaper. Insert a sheet with all the
collection details and place between
two pieces of firm cardboard. Attach a
covering letter outlining your request
for identification. Specimens sent to a
herbarium for identification won't be
returned. Good quality specimens may
sheets of A3 newspaper, or folded
be kept for herbaria reference
broadsheet.
collections.
• Arrange the samples so that
See Weeds CRC Factsheet, Weed
and sedges are carefully pried apart
leaflets/leaves and flowers can be
management: describing weeds for
and a few tillers with seed heads
clearly seen. Larger specimens can be
identification, for a list of Australian
kept for identification.
bent into a zigzag to fit the sheet.
herbaria and their contact details.
For further information visit the Weeds CRC’s website: www.weeds.crc.org.au
CRC for Australian Weed Management
Waite Road, Urrbrae
PMB 1, Waite Campus
Glen Osmond, SA 5064
Written by: Andrew Storrie, Senior Research
Agronomist, (NSW DPI Tamworth, NSW), Weeds
CRC and Annabel Bowcher, Education Officer,
Weeds CRC, (NSW DPI Wagga Wagga, NSW).
T 08 8303 6590
References: definitions obtained from ‘The
Wordsworth Dictionary of Botany’ by George
Usher
F 08 8303 7311
E [email protected]
Established and supported
under the Australian
Government’s Cooperative
Research Centres Program
Ref: 33/2005/fs
Disclaimer:
This publication is provided for the purpose of disseminating information relating to scientific and technical matters. Participating organisations of the Weeds CRC do not accept liability for any loss and/or damage, including
financial loss, resulting from the reliance upon any information, advice or recommendations contained in this publication. The contents of this publication should not necessarily be taken to represent the views of the
participating organisations.
Co o p e r a t i v e R e s e a rch Ce n t re f o r A u s t r a l i a n We e d M a n a g e m e n t • F a c t S h e e t