BOTANICAL ART & ARTISTS
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Plant Pressing
​for your own Herbarium

This page contains useful tips for creating herbarium specimens 
It covers:
  • ​Useful tips for collecting and pressing plant material - including reference articles from which these were drawn
  • The Herbarium Handbook - a book which is useful to those wanting to create their own
  • The unveiling of "Herbie " - the conservation of the original Herbarium Cabinet of Carl Linnaeus at the Linnean Society
  • Five videos about how to press plants, develop a Herbarium specimen and create a Herbarium collection.


Useful tips for collecting and pressing plant material
​

The process for collecting and preserving herbarium specimens involves
  • collection of plant material in the field - use bags to transport material to where preparation for drying takes place
  • preparing material in the field and for transport; it's essential that plants are preserved flat as soon as possible after collection to prevent wilt and shrivelling. The best material to use is anything which is absorbent such as sheets of newspaper or blotting paper. Any specimens that can fit into a jar or vial may be "pickled" by using any of several different preservatives.
  • mounting dried material on a herbarium sheet - it's best to use archival material for the mounting sheet if intended for long term preservation (otherwise the paper will deteriorate). Fixing media also needs to be archival. Full-size herbarium mounting sheets are usually about 43 cm long x 28 cm wide / 11x 17 inch composed of either 100% alpha cellulose or cotton rag paper that is acid free and pH neutral. 
  • labelling of material collected - details required are plant name; where collected; any field notes
  • preservation of the material - Consideration must be given to how to preserve specimens from any inadvertently collected pests. Common methods are: Freezing (48-72 hours); microwave dried material - but NOT mounted specimens on herbarium sheets (1-2 minutes); Insect deterrents eg moth balls
  • storage - preserved materials are commonly stored in boxes or tied bundles
  • filing - filing needs to be systematic and properly labelled
Nepenthes herbarium specimens
Nepenthes herbarium specimens deposited at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France.
REFERENCE: 
​
Botanic Gardens / Herbarium / Departments of Botany
  • Preserving plant specimens | Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
  • Collecting and preserving plant specimens, a manual | Queensland Herbarium (PFD file)
  • Preserving specimens in liquid preservatives | Smithsonian Department of Botany
  • How to make a Herbarium Specimen | University of Reading
Other Institutions
  • RHS: Pressing and collecting samples - this explains how to collect and press samples of plant material suitable for a Herbarium.  It's very accessible and uses straightforward equipment and materials.
  • Preparing And Storing Herbarium Specimens | National Park Service (PDF file)
  • How to Press and Preserve Plants | American Museum of Natural History
Other websites
  • ​Methods of preparation of Herbarium Specimens (With Diagram) | Biology Discussion
  • How to press and dry plants | The Compleat Naturalist
The Herbarium Handbook
Picture
The Herbarium Handbook
This is the commonly recognised standard reference manual for how to create herbarium specimens from plant material.

It provides a 
thorough and professional guide to collecting and preserving plants.
Paperback: 348 pages
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew; Third Edition, edition (5 Sept. 2000)

Average Customer Rating out of 5 stars:
  • in UK: 4.0 (based on 1 customer reviews)
  • in USA: 4.1 based on 5 customer reviews​

BUY THIS BOOK​
Herbarium Handbook 3rd Edition - from Amazon.co.uk
Herbarium Handbook 3rd Edition from Amazon.com

The "Unveiling of Herbie" - The original Herbarium Cabinet of Carl Linnaeus
​

The retirement of Professor Glen Lucas as Treasurer of the Linnean Society after 20 years of service was marked by the  Linnean Society commissioning the conservation of the Herbarium Cabinet of Carl Linnaeus - known at the Society as "Herbie".

This video records a presentation by Glenn Benson, the Curator of Artefacts at the Linnean Society.
Linnaeus invented the modern herbarium method which dispensed with “books” of plants and instead involved mounting each specimen on a separate unbound sheet of paper.  Then these sheets are stored in folders, like file folders, which makes it easy to add to the collection or remove a single sheet for study.
  • How to press and dry plants | The Compleat Naturalist
REFERENCE:
  • The Linnean Society - The world's oldest extant biological society, based in London.
  • Linnaean Herbarium Cabinet - It is one of the three original cabinets designed by Linnaeus himself and built to house his Herbarium. In his Philosophia Botanica (1751), Linnaeus gives detailed instructions how the cabinet should be designed and built: "A wooden cupboard, which can be closed by two long folding doors, nicely corresponding to a vertical partition."
  • The purchase of knowledge: James Edward Smith and the Linnean collections - In 1784, the herbarium and manuscripts of the great Swedish naturalist, Carl Linnaeus, were acquired by a young medical student and non-conformist, James Edward Smith. The purchase was an important step in the establishment of the Linnean system of classification in Britain. 
Picture
Linnaeus' herbarium cabinet

Video Guides: how to create Herbarium specimens and a Herbarium
​

​Five videos about how to press plants, develop a Herbarium specimen and create a Herbarium collection.
  • The first two are produced by staff of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and show how a botanic garden prepare specimens for a Herbarium
  • The third is focuses on pressing a plant which lives in water
  • The fourth and fifth are produced by a herbalist and provides a very simple explanation of how anybody can produce a Herbarium at home.
Filmed at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, this video provides a thorough introduction to collecting and pressing plants to make herbarium specimens.
Real-time demonstration of a dried plant specimen being mounted on a herbarium sheet before being laid away in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Herbarium. Please note this video is uncut. Copyright Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Below you can read Per-Olof Stolt's online book "Anne-Marie's Herbarium". He scanned the pressed plants, using a digital film scanner, in order to make the images for the book
Anne-Marie's Herbarium is a time travel 80-years back, through an old school herbarium. I've digitilized the dried plants to give them their old splendour back.

A simple way to make a Herbarium Press for maritime plants eg algae
A simple and lucid technical explanation by Rosalee de la Forêt of:
1) how to create a Plant Press to give yourself plant material work with during "the slow season" when snow is on the ground. This version uses stapled velcro rather than a strap to make your plant press tight. Much simpler for some people!  
2) How to press a plant
This is the follow up video to the one above.  This one looks at what you do a week later once you've got a dried plant. It shows you how to get the dried plant on to paper and then how to create a Herbarium Collection.
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  • Home
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  • HISTORY
    • What is Botanical Art?
    • What is Botanical Illustration?
    • Botanical Art History Books >
      • The Art of Botanical Illustration (Blunt)
      • Book Review: Treasures of Botanical Art
    • Herbals
    • Florilegia and Flora
    • Patrons of Botanical Art >
      • About Leonhart Fuchs
      • About Basilius Besler
    • Past Masters - Botanical Art and Illustration >
      • About Maria Sibylla Merian
      • About Elizabeth Blackwell
      • About Georg Dionysius Ehret
      • About Franz Bauer
      • About Sydney Parkinson
      • About Pierre-Joseph Redouté
      • About Marianne North
    • Famous Asian Botanical Artists (600-1900)
    • 20th & 21st Century Botanical Artists >
      • About Arthur Harry Church
      • About Margaret Mee
      • About Mary Grierson
      • About Raymond Booth
      • About Rory McEwen
      • About Pandora Sellars
    • Botanical Photographers
    • Botanical and Herbal Art Online
  • ARTISTS
    • Botanical Artists in the UK
    • Botanical Artists in North America
    • Botanical Artists in Europe
    • Botanical Artists in Australia and New Zealand
    • Botanical Artists in Asia
    • Botanical Artists in Africa
    • Botanical Artists in Latin America
    • Botanical Printmakers, Photographers, Sculptors et al
    • The Jill Smythies Award
    • Botanical Artists on Facebook
    • Botanical Art Blogs
  • Exhibitions
    • Calls for Entries - OPEN exhibitions
    • Online Exhibitions >
      • ARCHIVE: Online Botanical Art Exhibitions
    • RHS Botanical Art & Photography Shows >
      • ARCHIVE RHS Botanical Art Shows 2007-2021
      • Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows
      • RHS Portfolio Photography (Botanical / Horticultural)
    • Hunt International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration
    • UK >
      • Permanent Collections (UK)
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions at Major UK Galleries & Museums >
        • ARCHIVE: Major Gallery Exhibitions
        • ARCHIVE: Shirley Sherwood Gallery Exhibitions
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions in England and Wales >
        • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK
        • ARCHIVE: Reviews of Annual Exhibitions by the Society of Botanical Artists
      • Botanical Art Exhibitions in Scotland >
        • ARCHIVE: Scotland - Botanical Art Exhibitions
    • North America >
      • Permanent Collections (USA)
      • ARCHIVE Past ASBA Exhibitions in the USA
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the USA
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Canada
    • Europe >
      • Permanent Collections (Europe)
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Europe
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Exhibitions in Germany
      • ARCHIVE: ​Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Ireland
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Exhibitions in Russia
    • Australasia >
      • Margaret Flockton Award
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Australasia
    • Asia >
      • ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Asia
    • Africa
    • ARCHIVE: World Wide Exhibition of Botanical Art 2018
  • Education
    • Best Botanical Art Instruction Books >
      • Best Instruction Books by Botanical Art Societies >
        • The Art of Botanical Painting - review
        • The Botanical Palette - review
        • Botanical Sketchbook - review
      • Best Instruction Books about Botanical Illustration >
        • Botanical Illustration - Books by Bobbi Angell
        • Botanical Illustration (Oxley) - review
      • Best Instruction Books by top Artists / Teachers >
        • Books By Billy Showell
        • Books - the Eden Project
      • Best Botanical Drawing Instruction Books (Pencils) >
        • Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils - review
      • e-Booklets / digital guides
      • NEW Books about Botanical Art & Illustration (2020)
      • NEW Books about Botanical Art & Illustration (2019)
      • NEW Books about Botanical Art & Illustration (2018)
    • Tips and Techniques >
      • Tips from RHS Gold Medal Winners
      • Preparation and set-up
      • Botanical Sketching and Sketchbooks
      • Design and composition
      • Colour
      • Pen and Ink
      • How to draw and paint trees and leaves
    • Botanical Art Video Tips >
      • Video Tips: Watercolour Painting
      • Video Tips Coloured Pencils
      • Video Tips: Pencil drawing
      • Video Tips: Painting Flowers
      • Video Tips: Painting Leaves & Trees
    • Online Botanical Art Instruction >
      • CHECKLIST: FAQS about Online Learning
      • ONLINE TIMELINE
    • International Directory: Botanical Art Teachers
    • International Directory of Botanical Art Courses >
      • UK: Botanical Art Courses
      • North America: Botanical Art Courses
      • Europe: Botanical Art Courses & Holidays
      • Australasia: Botanical Art Courses
    • Diplomas and Certificates >
      • SBA Diploma Assignments
    • Distance Learning Courses
    • Talks, Lectures & Tours
    • Botanical Education on Facebook
    • Fellowships, Scholarships, Bursaries and Residencies
  • Materials
    • Paper
    • Vellum
  • Groups
    • National & Regional Botanical Art Societies
    • Florilegium Societies & Other Groups
    • Botanical Art Groups on Facebook
  • Botany
    • Why botany matters to artists
    • Botany Books for artists >
      • Botany for the Artist (Simblet)
      • The Art of Plant Evolution
      • The Concise British Flora in Colour (1965)
    • Scientific botanical illustration
    • Plant Forms and Anatomy
    • Plant Evolution and Taxonomy
    • Plant Names and Botanical Latin
    • Botanical Dictionaries
    • How to Identify Plants
    • Recording a Plant / Sketchbooks >
      • Plant Pressing for your own Herbarium
    • Botanic Gardens & Herbaria >
      • Global and National Networks
      • Herbaria, Seed Banks and Fungaria
      • Botanic Gardens in the UK >
        • Old Botanic & Physic Gardens in London
      • Botanic Gardens in Ireland
      • Botanic Gardens in Europe
      • Botanic Gardens in the USA
      • Botanic Gardens in Canada
      • Botanic Gardens in Asia
      • Botanic Gardens in Australia
    • Blogs about Plants and Flowers
  • Contact
    • About Katherine Tyrrell
    • About Reviews
    • Privacy Policy