HERBARIUM MEANING | HERBARIUM IN INDIA

HERBARIUM MEANING

Herbarium is a collection of pressed and dried plant specimens mounted on appropriate sheets, arranged according to some known system of classification and kept in pigeon holes of  steel or wooden cupboards usually specially prepared for this purpose. There are thousands of  plants in the universe and it is not possible to identify them without assigning them in a definite system. This was the beginning of the systematic botany and arrangement of plants in definite system is one of the steps of the process. Before arranging them it is necessary to collect plants according to certain system. The collected plant is the plant specimen and the specimens are the prime sources for floristic studies. Plant materials must be carefully selected, collected and preserved in such a way that they provide a clue for identification and later arranged accurately  for classification. The preserved specimen becomes a permanent record for investigation. This is herbarium specimen.


The science of creation of herbarium started way back in the 16th century when Luca Ghini (1490-1556) developed the first Herbarium.

The concept of preserving plant specimens in dried form is 450 years old. The plants were presented in this way by him and the first herbarium of the world was established in 1545 in University of Padua, italy. The first Botanic Garden was also established in the same year. Tourneforte around 1700 used two terms as an equivalent to Hartussiccus, which was later on adopted by Linnaeus. In the middle of 16th century three students of Ghini namely Aldrovondi, Cesalpino (from Italy) and Turner (from England) also made their herbaria.

 John Falconer prepared Herbarium in 1553.Dioscorides‘s ―Materia Medica‖ includes an account of the medicinal use of about 100 plants. In Italy,  the Italians began teaching Botany and developed the first ever botanical garden When the Renaissance developed,

 TOOLS FOR HERBARIUM

The tools used in making herbarium are given below:

 Pocket knife
 Pruning sheets
 Newspaper
 Plastic bags or vasculum (metal box)
 Plant press (Plywood / Iron)
 Digging Tool
 Field note book
 Lead pencil
 Lox hand lens
 String tags
 Collecting vials & jars
 Fixing solution
 Field note book

Field Equipments

 Field Equipment & Tools

* All-Pro Trowel
* Clippers
* Field Bags
* Forceps
* Hori-Hori
* Manual Cover
* Light-Duty Bags

 Pressing

* Presses
* Blotting
* Ventilators
* Straps.
* Newsprint
* Polyurethane Foam

 Mounting

* Mounting Papers
* Adhesives
* Levels
* Bryophyte Packets
* Fragment folders
* Seed Envelopes
* Bond Paper
* Display Envelopes

 Storage & Filing

* Genus Covers
* Species Folders
* Binding Tape
* Cabinets
* Bin Boxes
* Shelf Markers
* Insect Traps
* Humidity Indicators
* Zip-lock Style Bags
* Cartons

 Optics

* Hand Lenses
* Microscopes

 Books

* Presses
* Blotting

TECHNIQUES IN COLLECTION

Making of herbarium involves collection,
drying, poisoning, mounting, stitching,
labeling and deposition etc.

Collection

Angiospermic material must be chosen that
should have leaves, complete inflorescence,
flower and fruit etc. If necessary one has to make many visits to the spot. Size of the material depends upon the requirement and availability. Herbaceous small plant may be collected in 2-2, i.e., with roots also, but in woody plants 4-6 twigs are sufficient.The collection should be given a field number. The species should have at least 4-6 specimens with same field number. Some tools are rather important while collecting up plants for herbarium: A small knife, scissors, thorn￾proof gloves and a small handy spade could be of great help. The collected specimens should be put into a strong bag made of cloth or polythene, the function of these containers being to protect plants from damage during your collection visit. If your excursion takes place in summer time or lasts for two or more days, it is better to bring a folder of approximately 45x30 cm or more. The folder can be covered with cloth and it should be closed with straps or belts, and a handle or shoulder-belt should be added for easy carrying.

Field Note

Date of collection, location (name of place or distance from definite point)), collection number, if possible, name of the specimen, and description of the floral parts that may change after drying are noted down. The good quality specimens also become worst if it does not have good field record. The range, latitude and longitude as well as ecology of the plant need to be noted down by GPS (Global Positioning System) and eyesight vision. Duplicate specimens of one species that are collected on the same date and same locality should be given the same collection number.

Taking Pictures

Taking color pictures of each plant in its natural environment is also something which could substantially enrich the quality of herbarium. In that way the dried specimen can be placed together with one or more photographs, which are very helpful for bulky plants like trees or bushes, which obviously cannot be entirely included in a herbarium.

The suggested equipment is a 35 mm. single lens reflex camera, with a standard lens and a macro-lens, the latter very useful for close ups of flowers and other specific features. A tripod can also alleviate the need for a flash, which may be used when taking pictures in low light, but has the disadvantage of giving quite unnatural looking images.


Each photograph you take should be recorded in a note-book to provide further data for the classification and to include in the herbarium. Be careful that your camera and films are not damaged by rough handling and do not become wet.

Pressing

Generally specimens are kept with in the newspaper.Parts of flower are much carefully spread without overlapping in original shape. If the specimens are long, then it needs to be folded in V and N or Z shape.

Unnecessary overlapping of leaves and other parts must be avoided. If pinnately compound, a branch is only kept. A few leaves may be turned over to show lower and upper view. Specimens should be of good quality with good field note. Collection numbers have also to be written in the flimsies (newspaper or blank newspaper). The standard size of the press is 30 x 45 cm. If the specimen is gymnosperms, the specimens needs to dip in the glycerine before pressing. In case of flowers with gamopetalous corolla a few flowers should be pressed separately and some of these should be split open and spread. The specimens thus kept inside flimsies, are covered on either side by blotters and then it is put in herbarium press. After press is filled or all the specimens are put in the press, the plant press is closed and pressure is applied by means of tightening the straps. Hard and dried fruits and cones need not to be preserved or pressed, but have to be kept in special boxes.

Drying

Drying techniques are of two types; those accomplished without heat, and those with the aid of artificial heat. It is accomplished by means of heated dry air passing up and through the canal of the corrugate. It provides air passages through the press for movement of dry heated air. The most common method of drying is without applying heat. No corrugates are used. The press is locked up for about 24 hours. This is known as the sweating period. It is then opened, and as blotters are removed each pressing sheet is turned  back, the specimens are examined, and parts rearranged as the situation demands.

After rearrangement the folder sheet is lifted on to a fresh dry blotter and covered by another dry blotter. A third change of blotters follows usually after 2 to 3 days. Blotters must be changed 3-4 times; every wet blotter removed must be dried, usually by placing in the sun and reused. About a week is required for completion of drying. Dried specimens are packed with much care.

Poisoning

Precaution should be taken to protect herbarium specimens from damage by insect pests. The most destructive insects are herbarium beetle, cigarette beetle, booklice and silverfish. Insect repellants such as naphthalene ball or Para dichlorobenzene are sometimes placed in small quantities in herbarium cabinet. Although dangerous and hazardous to health, mercuric chloride is believed to be valuable because it provides long –term protection against insect attack. Besides the insect pest, the moulds and mildew are constant threat to material stored in damp condition or in areas of high humidity. Naphthalene and LPCP are believed to have fungicidal properties. However, thymol is quite effective as a fungicide.

Mounting

A process in which a species is attached to a Herbarium sheet is and a label affixed at the lower right corner is called Mounting. Specimen mounted on standard size of Herbarium sheet (29×43cm). Most herbaria use a glue or paste to fasten specimens to the sheets. The specimen may be attached by various methods.

Label

The size and shape of label may vary slightly but will usually be a rectangular and range between 10 x 15 cm (4 x 6 in.). The best position for the main label is generally thought to be the bottom right; this makes the label easier to read when kept in genus covers which open on the right hand side.

Generally herbarium label should contain the following information-

1. Heading- name of the institution in which the specimens originated /deposited.

2. Scientific name- Genus, specific epithet, author, or authors

3. Family-

4. Locality-

5. Range, latitude and longitude-

6. Habitat-

7. Date of collection-

8. Name of collector(s)-

9. Determined by-

10. Remarks-

Preservation of Specimens

Heating repellant and fumigants are used to check the attack of such destructive agents. The specimens may be treated by heating in a specially constructed cabinet at 60 0C for 6 hours, which kills larvae, eggs etc. A common process is-Ethylene dichloride mixed with one part of CCl4 (carbon tetrachloride) used for fumigation in closed chamber, which is effective process.

DDT (Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane) is an important insecticide and it is dusted.

Problems in Management

A national herbarium like the Central National Herbarium (CAL), Herbarium of the Forest Research Institute Dehradun, and the Herbarium of the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow are critically endangered due to lack of sufficient trained manpower facility.


Herbarium requires large building, curators, collection, tables for researchers and funds for continuous exploration. Funds are not provided for this subject now- a- days so it becomes very difficult to maintain. Policy makers must realize this and efforts should be made to maintain the important herbaria and Taxonomists should come up for exploration and maintenance of herbarium.

Important Herbaria in India

Some major Herbarium in India is as follow :

Steps For Herbarium Preparation

– Preparation of specimen

– Drying of specimen

– Preservation of specimen

– Mounting of the specimen

– Labeling of the specimen

– Filing of the specimen

Collection - Drying - Preservation - Mounting - Labeling – Filing

Functions of Herbarium

A modern Herbarium serves valuable functions or utility. The following are few important functions of a herbarium are: 

1. It provides necessary information for verifying and identifying newly collected plants.

2. It is an invaluable conservatory of plant material and data.

3. It is storehouse of collections including the valuable type specimens.

4. Serves as a fundamental resource for identification of all plants of the world.

5. It serves as a source for collection of biodiversity. Most estimates on global biodiversity today are based on herbarium collection only.

6. It aids in biodiversity monitoring by carrying out security of herbarium collection to obtain quantitative baseline data on the distribution and abundance of keystone species is essential for all monitoring programmes.

7. It serves as a repository of voucher specimens on which various botanical researches are carried out.

8. Aids in assessment of conservation status of a taxon.

10. It serves as a source for search of new genetic material for improvement of cultivated stock.

11. It helps in development of computer database on plants and maintains active links to international networks of systematic resources and electronic database.

12. It provides research facilities to the students of taxonomic research.

13. It provides complete idea of vegetation and place of origin of plants.

14. The ecological, economical and ethnobotanical data may be obtained, and

15. It provides key for the preparation of modern system of classification.

The herbaria are classified as:

(a) Major or National Herbaria which cover the flora of the world and serve the purpose of research as well as identification.

(b) Minor Herbaria which include smaller herbaria such as Regional herbaria, local herbaria and College / University herbaria.