Thank you Pankaj ji, Usha di and Surajit ji for your advice and comments. Pankaj ji, I live in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh at an altitude of about 1700-1800m and study plants, birds, butterflies and moths as a hobby. I have mixed aims in starting and maintaining a herbarium:
I want to collect plants to study them in greater depth than merely photographing them allows. I have been uprooting some plants in any case to have a closer look and to photograph them in better conditions and to look under a microscope, so why not preserve them and keep them available for future reference. I will not deny the fun element. I began studying them in the first place because of the joy it afforded me. Also as an activity with children it will combine hours of fun with study and hopefully will instil in them a degree of concern for nature. But you have raised valid points in asking the purpose of such a project. First, I feel not enough is done to study the plants of my area and hence any careful collection will set a basis for present/future studies. Second, photographs of a specimen are not always enough to correctly identify and leave room for further more detailed investigations. Third, an actual plant helps me look closer and study features that I either overlook in the field or fail to study properly. As a rule if I do not see several specimens of the same plant, I DO NOT collect a specimen. This way even if I inadvertently take a rare plant, I can be sure that I am not destroying the only existing sample. Furthermore, by bringing attention of the experts on this group to a rare species, wherever encountered, I hope to help save/revive the plant with expert advice. Since I have not yet embarked on a collection, I welcome your views on this matter further. Thanks and regards, Ashwini On 05-Apr-2015, at 6:02 pm, surajit koley <[email protected]> wrote: > Thank you Didi for those interesting links, something novel to me. At the > same time I also subscribe to the conservation view. > > Regards > > surajit > > > On Sun, Apr 5, 2015 at 5:15 PM, Ushadi Micromini <[email protected]> > wrote: > Pankaj , Point well written and taken on my part > > May be you should take it up with botany departments at colleges and > universities and conservation agencies and the environmental departments > you are passionate about it > > good luck > > I'll let Ashwini tell you what you asked > Based on all the cases he has been showing here I personally dont think > Ashwini had any such notion as decimating plants you are thinking of... > but still its a good notion to sound the alarm > > we all will pay heed to your sentiments . I am sure... > > When are you going to show us some more of your orchids > > Usha di > > > > > > we have not seen you here for a while now, whats keeping you busy > > > > On Sun, Apr 5, 2015 at 4:52 PM, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> wrote: > My point was a bit different? > There is no point making herbarium collections just for fun and for hobby. > I am sorry but I dont know your background properly and neither do I know > your location. > If I had known your location then I would have suggested the name of nearest > herbarium from your place which you can visit to study specimens if you need. > Some people so specimen collections for fun and infact there are some rare > species which are going extinct, for example Panchmarhi is a favorite > destination for botany students, and they go every year in team and every > year they collect same plants and some rare species, just to prepare report > for their degree course. To me its WRONG !!! But its my personal view. > Best regards > Pankaj > > > On Sun, Apr 5, 2015 at 7:04 PM, Ushadi Micromini <[email protected]> > wrote: > Dear Ashwini > > You want to make herbarium specimen to dry for posterity for science or > //and > for making botanical art pieces for framing ( you have a rich fern > population they make great art pieces) > > Its not at all difficult > just laborious and you need to keep a log of serial number date of > collecting botanical names place of collection and any and all data you want > to save and meticulously write at least your serial number and date on the > newspaper where you are pressing them..the names or serial number of your > collection written down on the newspapers where you press them initially > > and get any many different ones to show the natural variation that nay be in > any given wild population so they would be your erial number xyz folowed by a > b c d etc otr small i, ii, iii iv etc > other wise a mess follows > I have done it and had to throw out several because i had no way of knowing > what they were once dried out > > Also its a fun thing for children to learn > of course theirs is usually just a fun thing > and this site says its not rocket science , I love that sentiment > and who knows > it may direct their future lives > its pure bliss when what you love becomes your professional calling.... > > some very good instructions are on the net , at utube from a herbal site > and also a utube from RBGE and then how to mount the specimen RBGE again > I looked at these s RBGE utubes before hitting the send button, its really > quite complete as far as demos go... > > > Read up some in writing... > one recent one i see is a pdf ... > and a blog > > ONE thing a professor at BHU had told me that in india one perhaps needs to > rinse out and dry the specimen in some sort of alcohol solution or potassium > permanganate to deter the fungi that grow.. before putting them in > newspapers for pressing, i tried it once but ... how does one know that i > had killed off all spores etc...also a theoretical problem with that is > flowers will wither etc, > and chemical analysis later may be interfered with, I donot know exactly > what folks do in India... > > > ask Dr Rawat or Gurcharanji or Nidhan or Balkar > > they would know they are currently professors... and go on collecting trips > I am sure they dont only take pictures they must be making herbarium too... > > then for permanent mounting and saving ...getting supplies to be acid free > and all those tapes labels envelopes that see thru for small items or fallen > flowers or seeds etc, if you want to make it like at the NYBG or MOBOT you > would have to get your relatives to ship them to you do some search, many > years ago I had found some sites that had catalogs for botanical herbarium > making and also they had library related acid free supplies... > > > BSI at Kolkata does a course of herbarium making at some campus in salt lake > you could ask Tapas da > or do search it at BSI site > > good luck > > Usha di > > > > > > > > On Sun, Apr 5, 2015 at 12:26 PM, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> wrote: > May I know why you wish to make herbarium specimens and where do you live? > Pankaj > > > On Sun, Apr 5, 2015 at 2:36 PM, J.M. Garg <[email protected]> wrote: > Forwarding again for any assistance in the matter please. > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Ashwini Bhatia <[email protected]> > Date: 1 April 2015 at 21:42 > Subject: [efloraofindia:220126] Herbarium > To: efloraofindia <[email protected]> > > > This is an unusual request to all of you. I was thinking of making a > herbarium of local plants this summer with my son and daughter. What do I > need to make a professional herbarium–something which can be useful in > gaining further insights later? Since I have no previous experience, please > guide with basics such as materials, process etc. > > I will be grateful for any insights. > > Thanks and regards, > Ashwini > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "efloraofindia" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > -- > With regards, > J.M.Garg > 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' > The whole world uses my Image Resource of more than a thousand species & > eight thousand images of Birds, Butterflies, Plants etc. (arranged > alphabetically & place-wise). You can also use them for free as per Creative > Commons license attached with each image. > For identification, learning, discussion & documentation of Indian Flora, > please visit/ join our Efloraofindia Google e-group (largest in the world- > more than 2400 members & 2,00,000 messages on 9.9.14) or Efloraofindia > website (with a species database of more than 10,000 species & 2,00,000 > images). Winner of Wipro-NFS Sparrow Awards 2014 for efloraofindia. > Also author of 'A Photoguide to the Birds of Kolkata & Common Birds of India'. > > > > -- > ********************************************************************************************************************** > Pankaj Kumar, Ph.D. > IUCN-SSC Orchid Specialist Group Asia > > Office: > Conservation Officer > Orchid Conservation Section > Flora Conservation Department > Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation > Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > Residence: > House no. 39, 2nd Floor, Shui Wo Tsuen > Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > email: [email protected]; [email protected] > Phone: +852 2483 7128 (office - 8:30am to 5:00pm); +852 9436 6251 (mobile); > Fax: +852 2483 7194 > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "efloraofindia" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > -- > Usha di > =========== > > > > -- > ********************************************************************************************************************** > Pankaj Kumar, Ph.D. > IUCN-SSC Orchid Specialist Group Asia > > Office: > Conservation Officer > Orchid Conservation Section > Flora Conservation Department > Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation > Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > Residence: > House no. 39, 2nd Floor, Shui Wo Tsuen > Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > email: [email protected]; [email protected] > Phone: +852 2483 7128 (office - 8:30am to 5:00pm); +852 9436 6251 (mobile); > Fax: +852 2483 7194 > > > > > -- > Usha di > =========== > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
