Herbaria and Their Uses

Introduction to Herbaria and Their Uses

Herbarium is a collection of pressed, dried plant specimens that mounted on particular sheets, recognized and arranged in the order of an accepted and familiar system of classification. It as well considers to the institution in which dried plant specimens are kept and studied. Example - Herbarium of Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore.

A twig along with leaves, inflorescence or flowers is composed from shrubs and trees. In the matter of herbs, the collected plant specimens have to be consists of both vegetative and reproductive parts.  They are dried through keeping them among the folds of old newspapers.  It is essential to alter these papers at regular intervals, until the plants are dried well. The plant specimens together with their parts are dried in a plant press (below diagram). It contains of two boards with straps that help in tightening the newspapers with specimens among the boards.

On the herbarium sheets of standard size that is 41 cm X 29 cm the dried specimens are pasted.  The procedure of attaching pressed and dried plant specimens on herbarium sheets is termed as mounting of specimens. Every mounted specimen is sprayed along with fungicide such as 0.1% solution of Mercuric chloride. To guard these dried specimens from the attack of insects, pesticides like naphthalene and carbon disulphide can be employed.  The weighty parts of plants like seeds and fruits are reserved in packets and attached to the sheets.

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Diagram:  Plant press

While a new name for a species is recommended, it is the rule that plant specimens of similar should essentially be deposited in an identified herbarium.   These specimens are termed as type specimens.   The name of the family is all the time relies on type genus.   These specimens are very much valuable part of herbarium and they are handled with very much care.  In fire-proof cabinets they are kept.

If the herbarium specimens are handled with much care, herbarium specimens will be in good situation for a long lasting.  Safety measures should be taken against attacks of fungi and insects.  It is all the time better to make use of chemicals that can repel the insects from herbarium specimens. The herbarium is all the time accompanied with a label. It takes the information regarding to the plant's botanical name, habit, place, name of the family, and date of collection and name of the person by whom these specimens were collected.

A number of significant National and International Herbaria

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Importance of herbarium

 

1. Herbarium is a basis of knowledge regarding to the flora of a region or a locality or a country.

2. Herbarium is a data store where the information on plants is available.

3. The type specimens assist in the correct identification of plants.

4. Herbarium gives materials for taxonomic and anatomical studies.

5. Typical pollen characters have been well highlight in taxonomy. Morphological characters of the pollen remain unaltered even after storage up to almost 200 years.

6. It is very much helpful in the study of cytology, structure of DNA, numerical taxonomy, chemotaxonomy, etc. It works as a reservoir of gene pool studies.

 

Due to its significance, various herbaria have been established at the national and international centres.

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