[NHCOLL-L:3164] Re: Adhesion of Botany Specimens to Herbarium Sheets

[Ann Pinzl]

Adhesion of Botany Specimens to Herbarium SheetsHello Christine,

I've been looking over a lot of the literature about how to do things, and so far at least, I cannot recall comments about 100% adhesion - if anything, there are directives/positive comments about not having the specimens rigidly/100% attached: those working with grasses (which can really sop up glue)can be particularly adamant with suggesting that no glue be applied to grass heads at all, and that only the stems/leaves be glued down ... and there have been similar comments regarding fragile flowers. The increasing use of packets (and actually drying extra material for them) grants greater access to material that might have otherwise be unavailable and mired down in adhesive.

Back to the literature for a moment - it seems that toward the end of the last century (how's that for making this tidbit seem ancient!) that the consensus, so to speak, was favoring some gluing on the back of the specimen with some additional strapping or sewing - for a while there, 'spot-welding' with glue straps was in vogue. Who says this work isn't trendy?

Personally, I'm not sure you can really affix all of a bulky specimen onto the sheet ...

Ann

Ann Pinzl
4020 Hobart Road
Carson City, Nevada 89703
USA
phone: 775 883 0463

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Del Re, Christine 
  To: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu 
  Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 2:38 PM
  Subject: [NHCOLL-L:3160] Adhesion of Botany Specimens to Herbarium Sheets


  I am working on a in-house grant funded botany re-housing project which includes the stabilization of plants to herbarium sheets.    Our botanist requires that the entire plant specimen be firmly mounted onto the herbarium sheet: including the entire stem.  Each plant specimen is tugged at and pulled at to make sure that it is completely and absolutely affixed to the herbarium sheet.  Not being a botanist, but a conservator by training, it seems odd that every molecule of a plant is glued, affixed and completely immobilized to the herbarium sheet, especially since most of the stems were originally fixed on the sheets with straps.

  Since the references that I have read do not indicate the degree to which a plant is affixed to a sheet, can my colleagues on NHCOLL-L, please enlighten me as to the accepted standard practice on plant immobilization if there is one?  Your input would be greatly appreciated.

  my sincere thanks for your consideration of my request, Chris 

  Christine Del Re                Voice:  (414) 278-2780 
  Senior Conservator              Fax:    (414) 278-6100 
  Milwaukee Public Museum e-mail: delre at mpm.edu 
  800 W. Wells St. 
  Milwaukee, WI  53233-1478 


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