AGNR6 NATIVE PLANT ID
Shasta College, Spring 2014
Julie Kierstead Nelson, instructor
Dried Pressed Plant Specimen Collection (Herbarium)
1. A collection of 25 different native or naturalized species with enough parts (pressed leaves, stems,
flowers, fruits, roots) to identify them accurately. Include a variety of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous
plants. Include specimens from each plant community we visit as a class—foothill woodland, chaparral,
riparian, mixed conifer/oak forest, montane mixed conifer forest, vernal pools/grassland. That is, don’t
collect all your specimens from one or two places. Your finished collection will include:
2.
A map showing where you collected your specimens. Use Google Earth, a highway map, draw by
hand, just show me where you collected.
3.
A list of the plants you collected, alphabetized by genus—show scientific name, common name,
family name.
4.
Pressed plants must be mounted on heavy paper and in a folder or binder.
5.
Plants must be correctly identified and labeled with the following information (see example on
next page):
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Scientific name, written & spelled correctly
Common name
Specific location where collected, including county, state, directions & distance to nearest
landmark; legal location (Township, Range, Section) or coordinates in lat/long or UTM
format. I should be able to find your collecting location even if I don’t have a GPS unit.
Growth habit, if the whole plant is not collected (if you just collected a branch, tell me how
tall it was, whether it was a spreading shrub or a single-stemmed tree); flower color or any
other feature that may change during drying
Habitat and associated species—what other plants was it growing with? Habitat
description and names of associated species should be based on your field observations of
the site where you collected the specimen, not copied out of a book, which will give a more
general description of habitat.
Elevation of the site where you collected the specimen, not an elevation range out of a
field guide.
Collector's full name
The date your specimen was collected.
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AGNR6 NATIVE PLANT ID
Shasta College, Spring 2014
Julie Kierstead Nelson, instructor
Example of a complete herbarium label:
Plants of Trinity County, California
Clarkia gracilis (Piper) A. Nelson & J.F. Macbr.
SLENDER CLARKIA
Bramlet Road (Forest Rd. 30N29) 100m north of Rattlesnake Creek crossing,
ca. 1.5 miles south of Highway 36W; 11 miles south of Hayfork. Locally
common on gravelly road berms. Dubakella Mountain West 7.5 minute Quad,
1992. Elev. 1120m; T29N, R12W, SW ¼ Sec. 2. Petals uniformly pink; buds
nodding.
Julie Kierstead Nelson 2011-13
With Christy Wagner
June 21, 2011
In addition to this personal collection of 25 specimens, mounted as you wish in a notebook or folder,
you will also collect two specimens of the plant you selected as the subject of your research paper.
These two specimens will be labeled and mounted on standard herbarium paper. The instructor will
show you the proper placement of the label and appropriate mounting methods, and will provide two
sheets of herbarium paper to you for this purpose. These two specimens will be retained by Shasta
College; one for the AGNR herbarium and one to donate to a California university herbarium.
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AGNR6 NATIVE PLANT ID
Shasta College, Spring 2014
Julie Kierstead Nelson, instructor
Some points to remember:
 Don't limit your collecting to a small area. You want to go on several trips to different places to
find all the samples you need.
 On trees and shrubs, collect and press the leaves and branches, on herbs you need the whole
plant, including flowers or fruits.
 When pressing plants, be sure that all distinguishing marks (leaf arrangement, color of leaf or
flower, etc) needed to identify the plant are present and recognizable. On broadleaf plants,
shrubs, and trees show both the upper and under surfaces of the leaf. If your specimen doesn’t
include all the parts needed to key it out, you will lose points.
 Give yourself enough time for plants to dry properly. You will lose points for mildew.
 Remember to get permission from landowners. No collecting in State/Nat’l Parks, including
Whiskeytown & Lassen, without a permit!
 Watch out for poison oak! This is one plant you need to be able to identify quickly.
 Remember, plant communities are never distinctly separated. An ecotone usually exists and
you may find plants from several plant communities there.
 Extra credit can be given for up to 10 additional plants that are properly pressed, mounted, and
identified.
PLANT COLLECTION DUE ON OR BEFORE 1250 PM, TUESDAY, MAY 6
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