2. A HERBARIUM IS A COLLECTION OF PLANTS, WHICH HAVE DRIED, PRESSED, MOUNTED ON HERBARIUM SHEETS, IDENTIFIED & CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO SOME APPROVED SYSTEM OF CLASSIFICATION Luca Ghini initiated the art of herbarium making by pressing and sewing specimens on sheets of paper
6. HERBARIUM TECHNIQUES It involves a series of operations, such as collection, pressing, drying and poisoning, mounting and stitching, labelling, filling and deposition.
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8. PRESSING Specimens should be carefully placed in the centre on the pressing sheets. If specimens are large enough, they should be bent giving them shape of V, N or W. The bundles should be uniform in thickness in the middle & on the sides. Specimens should be kept one above the other.
9. DRYING AND POISONING For effective drying, drying papers are replaced by fresh ones. Changing of papers is repeated everyday for about fortnight, or until the plant specimens appear perfectly dried. In the humid climate, the changing of papers is done twice a day to have good results. Artificial heat may be given if the weather is too humid.
10. MOUNTING AND STITCHING The standard size of a herbarium sheet is 29 x42 cm . They are usually made of durable card sheets. The dried specimens are glued on herbarium sheets and the stem/branches can be stitched/glued with cellophane tapes. It is advisable to mount one specimen on each herbarium sheet. Dissected & loose parts, such as flowers, fruits & seeds, are kept in paper packets & pasted to the mounted sheet.
