Herbarium Specimens
Examples of Nice Specimens
L.M.Waltermyer 24 - (Solidago canadensis)
Good: specimen is neatly pressed, label contains good descriptions of things about the plant that a specimen cannot always show (e.g., height, color), label contains good detailed description of precise locale and habitat, specimen sufficiently fills the sheet without going off the edges, provides a complete representation of the plant's habit with top, middle and base (including roots) of plant even though the plant was 1 m tall and would not fit on the sheet in its entirety. Label includes Record ID number at the bottom, like it should.
Note: The varietal epithet "canadensis" should be italicized. Also, although the label includes the Record ID number at the bottom, like it should, it unnecessarily includes "Contributor" and "Date Contributed" which has nothing to do with the specimen and which your tutorial on label making says to exclude.
K.A.Yuditsky 11 - (Oxalis corniculata)
Good: specimen is neatly pressed, sufficiently fills the sheet, and provides a complete representation of the plant's habit due to the inclusion of a complete root system, stolons, flowers and fruits.
Note: Label should have been proofread to delete typographic errors such as repeated or unnecessary semi-colons, etc. This specimen was made before the new label format for the herbarium went into effect, which now requires that the Record ID number be printed at the bottom of the label and the herbarium name be included after the collector and collection number.
S.Woomer 4 - (Typha latifolia)
Good: specimen is complete with reproductive and vegetative structures, include the rhizome and roots. Because the parts are bulky, the mounter reinforced their adherance to the mounting paper by sewing bulky parts using a needle and cotton or hemp 10-lb string. Great description of the plant, emphasizing things that the specimen on the sheet cannot show.
Note: This specimen was made before the new label format for the herbarium went into effect, which now requires that the Record ID number be printed at the bottom of the label and the herbarium name be included after the collector and collection number.
C.Welsh 6 - (Datura stramomium)
Good: despite being a large plant too large to completely fit on the paper, she gets all the important parts, root, stem, leaves, flowers, and fruit. She also presses one flower as-is, but opens up one additional flower to reveal stamens and pistil: this way, the specimen shows the outside of the flower, including its sepals and corolla tube, as well as the inside of the flowers for parts that would otherwise be concealed had she not dissected open the flower. She goes further by reinforcing bulky parts by sewing.
Note: This specimen was made before the new label format for the herbarium went into effect, which now requires that the Record ID number be printed at the bottom of the label.
A.Gerold 21 - (Cleome hasslerana)
Good: neatly pressed and mounted without wrinkling, showing both upper and lower leaf surface, with good color preservation and extra effort to fill unused spaced on sheet in the upper left with one isolated flower. Good description on label.
Note: Even though this plant was 1 m tall, the DBH should have been filled in as "0 cm" and a root and base of the plant should have been included. Also, this specimen was made before the new label format for the herbarium went into effect, which now requires that the Record ID number be printed at the bottom of the label and boldfaces on some of the headers such as "Species", "Family", etc.