Botanical field notebook.docx

7/28/2019 Botanical field notebook.docx

1/6


2/6


3/6

Field Notebook

Amis -

Field notes give all the information about a plant that cannot be preserved with as a specimen.

Things like whether the plant was a tree or a shrub, how tall it was and what colors the flower was when it

was picked are all things that cannot be guessed at later from the specimen. Descriptions of the locality

and the community of plants around the specimen are also things that you can't get later. Remember, it

might be someone else looking at your specimen, not just you, and it might be many years after you

collected it.

It also carries to Survey of Taxonomy, Ecology, Horticulture and Biostatistics information as legal document

for a botanist.

About study place -

In the date of 25/12/2012 me Samir Kumar Mondal arrived to Jiaganj for study and collected data for a

field notebook that under the Syllabus to kalyani university. The whole survey is directed by myself. First I

come on the the Jiaganj railway station at the 11 Oclock and come to the nearest survey place named darji

para that located to near east bank of Baghirathi River at Jiaganj. This place is known as jiaganj station

road. After sometime later, I have initiated my reports collection.

After the collection, I have gone the nearest Guru Nanak temple for identification and take up photo in the

temple gardens plant.

Places description -

Geographical description of the survey place

Plane flood zone of Baghirathi river, Maximum Temperature-38.6 OC, Minimum Temperature-7.8 OC,

Annual Rainfall 1593.10 mm, Height over mean sea level 19m, Longitude-88 d 27 E, Latitude-24 d 24 N

Ecological description of the survey place

Semi-aquatic, lower gangetic plain and grassland, Soil type-Loamy soli, Soli colored-blackish gray, Soil

texture- 25-50 % Sand, 30-50 % Silt, 10-30 % Clay, Soil pH- 6.5

Taxonomical description of the survey place

A part of Flora of Murshidabad. Mainly habitat following family of plant group.

Malvaceae, Sterculiaceae, Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Orchidaceae, Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae,

Acoraceae (Acorus calamus .L), Rutaceae, Rubiaceae, Adiantaceae (Pteridophyta), Apocynaceae,

Asteraceae, Liliaceae, Alangiaceae, Sapindaceae, Araceae, Zingiberaceae, Commelinaceae, Lythraceae

(Lagerstroemia indica), Meliaceae, Lamiaceae, Menispermaceae, Annonaceae, Papaveraceae,

Convolvulaceae, Urticaceae, Arecaceae, Poaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Cucurbitaceae,

Oxalidaceae, Brassicaceae, Verbenaceae, Cannabidaceae, Cannaceae, Capparaceae, Combretaceae,

Burseraceae, Bombacaceae

Specimen collection and processing -

The fieldwork of specimen preparation involves plant collection, pressing and partial drying of the

specimens. The plants are collected for various purposes: building new herbarium or type specimen to


4/6

compilation of a floras or material for class work and also ethno botanical studies. Fieldwork may be

undertaken in different ways that have done by myself -

1. Requirements

1.Knife 2.Trowel 3.Pickaxe 4.Newspaper 5.Board 6.Press frame 7.Plastic bags 8.Small

zipper bags 9.Field notebook (Tagable) 10.Pencils 11.Camera or mobile camera 12.Pen

13.container 14. Tape measure

2. Assemble the equipment

1. Prepare the press with folds of newspapers to receive the specimens.

2. Gather tools and supplies cutting tools, digging tools, note-book, plastic bags to hold

unpressed specimens, and a camera to record difficult to describe plant parts.

3. Prepare the field notebooks tagable sheet.

3. Collect the specimen and record data

1. Survey the plants to be collected to find the most representative specimens.

2. Cut to dig the selected plant parts.

3. Make detailed notes of observation that may be forgotten.

4. Place the specimens in a container for transport or in the press. If notes are made and

separate parts collected, give the same identifying number (tags) to portions so they can be

associated later.

5. Capture a photo of the specimen for better understand.

4. Prepare the specimen for pressing

1. Place specimen in numbered newspaper fold.

2. Cut away excess parts, arrange leaves and flowers.

3. Write notes beside number in notebook, like describe area, habit, habitat, colors etc

special details that may be forgot.

4. Place fold between driers (adsorbent blotting paper) and corrugates (corrugated

cardboard with channels running the width of the 12 by 17 inch piece) or heavy pads of

newspaper.

5. Press the specimen

1. Press the specimen with its driers and corrugates tightly between press frames or weight

heavily beneath board of books.

6. Dry the specimen

1. Change driers or newspaper pads in 24 hours and thereafter as they become moist. Do

not disturb the specimens in the newspaper folds.


5/6

2. When dry to the touch, test for incompletely dried specimens (incompletely dried

specimens will feel cooler and ends will droop when lifted from the fold)

7. Store the specimen

1. Store dried specimens in their folds tied between corrugates or mount on stiff 12 by 16

inch paper with bookbinders Holland tape strips.

2. Label all specimens before mounting.

3. Store it in the present of some insecticide.

Identification -

Identification of an unknown specimen is a common taxonomic activity, and often combined with

determination of a correct name. The combined activity is appropriately referred as specimen

determination. Before the specimen can be identified, it is desirable to describe it and prepare a list of

character- states, mainly pertaining to floral structure. Whereas fresh specimens may be

described more conveniently, the dried specimens may be softened by immersingin water or a wetting agent such as aerosol OT (dicotyl sodium sulfosuccinate 1 % distilled water 74 % and

Methanol 25 %). Pohls softening agent is an excellent detergent solution for softening flowers and fruits

for dissection. The identification of an unknown plant may be achieved by comparison with identified

herbarium specimens or through the help oftaxonomic literature who is the sir and madam of my colleges

botany department.

Prepare a Tabular key-

Tabular keys of Malvaceae

Attributes

Taxa

Herbaceous

Shrubs

0.75

1.5m

height

12m

height

23m

height

Palmateleaf

Stellatehairs

Aromaticity

Flowercolour

Freepetals

Mucilaginouscells

Monadelphous

stamenspresent

Stipulespresent

Epicalyxpresent

Spinespresentin

fruit

Abutilonindicum.L DY

Sidacordifolia. L LY

Urenalobata. L LP

Submissions -

When the specimen identify is complete then time to submit the specimen as a type material (type

specimen) such as Herbarium, A typical Specimen photo etc, because it is the proof of a particular species

or taxon that anyone can be identify the specimen through submitted material.

Here, I submit some herbarium and specimen photo (photo book) as a type specimen into our

colleges Botany department for any taxonomic literature can understand bitterly about the specimen.

Preparation of herbarium

1. Poisoning the specimen -

1. The stored specimens can be generally suffering by fungi and pests (silverfish). So, specimen

are generally poisoned to prevent the fungi and pests attack. Here, I use naphthalio cupric


6/6

sulfate solution that prevent fungi and pests both. The solution is spray to the dry stored

specimen by a Spray bottle and dry it under the hot sun.

2. Mounting the specimen

1. Dried specimens are finally mounted on herbarium sheets. The sheet is 29 by 41.5 cm (11

by 16 inches) and made of thick handmade paper or a card sheet.

2. Mount it on the herbarium sheet with the help of plastic glue, glue tape etc.

3. Labelling the herbarium sheet

1. At last, the sheet are label by herbarium label thats size is 2 by 4 inches and located on the

lower right corner of the herbarium sheet.

Preparation of a photo book

In the collection time I have capture some photo of some specimen. Here, I submit the photo with a

photo book to the department as a good type specimen and nullify any confusion about my

identification.

Commitment about the survey

I remember that every university and college are put in a short form of botanical survey under the

syllabus of U.G and all student are also take part in the survey. Because, in the year 2013 many student

who is read under U.G label cannot give a sweat able comment about the question what is a plant? What

is particular value of a plant in the environment? What is the significance of a plant in daily life? What is its

relation between us? What is the scientific name of a plant? Why need to classify a plant group? What is

the phylogeny of a common plant? What are the common salient features that help to identify the plant?

Etc. In the educational survey, where a confused student can search this questions answers easily and

developed a good lesson about the botany.

One other side it has introduced practically about the study material that we has read theoretical in

the past time. It is also a part of Ethno botanical, Taxonomical, Morphological, Ecological practical study.

Reference-

1. The Use and Methods of Making a Herbarium/Plant Specimens

-A journal of Herb Society of America.

2. U.S.A agriculture information bulletin No. 348

3. Australian national herbarium journal January, 1977

4. Plant Systematics - Gurcharan Singh Samir Kumar Mondal

Botanical field notebook.docx

Documents

Transcript of Botanical field notebook.docx