Plants, both large and small and in various states (with leaves, without leaves and as twigs, with fruits, without fruits, etc.) are collected and maintained in the Ohio State University Herbarium. Vascular plants with leaves, flowers and fruits comprise the majority of the Ohio State University Herbarium, this having been the focus of the collection by staff and acquisitions through purchase, exchange or as gift since the beginning. But one also finds representatives of many vascular plants in leafless condition in the Herbarium. These are important as they are likely to be of value to those who work particularly with woods or in forestry. Herbaria normally emphasize that materials should always be collected in flower or fruit and they usually feel that sterile materials are very rarely of value unless they have those characteristics associated with dormancy (buds, scars, spines, prickles, thorns, spur shoots, etc.). The ideal is to obtain both flowering and fruiting specimens of the same species at all seasons. Recognition of the same species in winter condition can be made by studying the features associated with the twigs.
Here we show some samples of vascular plants in their winter state as well as some seedlings, the latter obtained from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s Nevada Test Site, to show some of the the range of variation in our collection.
Stems of Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) in winter, including some of an unusual yellow variety
A specimen of a leafy stem of Black Raspberry
A specimen of Black Raspberry from winter without leaves
Closeup of a specimen of Black Raspberry, showing the prickles on the leafless stems
A specimen with leafless stems of Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), including fruits
An optimal specimen should utilize as much of the sheet as possible. For herbaceous plants, whenever possible the whole plant including the underground part should be collected, and a number of plants to show the range in size are much better than a single plant. On the other hand, with very small plants sufficient materials should be collected to give a fair representation of the species.
A specimen with many seedlings of a western Buckwheat (Erigonum)
A specimen with seedlings of a species from the Phlox family (Polemoniaceae)
Another specimen with seedlings from the Daisy family (Asteraceae)
About the Author: Mesfin Tadesse is Curator of Seed Plants in the OSU Herbarium.