Author: Ethan Perry
On Saturday November 11 we convened at the UMD Bagley Outdoor Classroom (which isn’t actually outdoors!) for our second annual plant mounting extravaganza. Dr. Amanda Grusz, curator of the Olga Lakela Herbarium, brought the stack of plants we collected and pressed in August at the Sax-Zim Bog. She also brought all the supplies necessary for turning dead, flat plants into scientific specimens.
Dr. Grusz started us off with a talk about the value of herbarium specimens for various kinds of research and strategies for creating a good specimen. We each took a plant inside folded newspaper and a large sheet of acid-free archival paper. Also inside each newspaper was a small paper label we had already printed with information about the collection, including its scientific name, the date and location, the name of the collector, and a description of the habitat. We glued the label to the bottom right corner of the herbarium sheet, and then carefully glued the plant to the sheet in an arrangement that shows both sides of the leaves and doesn’t obscure important identifying traits. A little creative design makes it even better! Any pieces that broke off we put into fragment folders and glued them to the top left.
We each did one after another until suddenly our time was up. We still have a few more to mount, possibly in another event later this winter. Don’t miss out!
Arrowhead Native Plant Explorers 