Herbarium

 In this blog, an attempt has been made to publish some questions and answers related to the topic Herbarium.

  1.  A place where dried plant specimens are collected ?

    a) Botanical garden     b) Herbarium    c) Arboretum   d) All of the above

Answer:- Herbarium

The term "herbarium" refers to a collection of dried plant specimens placed on paper sheets. The plants are often obtained in situ (i.e., where they were growing in nature), recognised by professionals, crushed, and then properly mounted to archival paper and stored in organized manner so that all main morphological traits are evident.

Botanical Garden :- It is a live collection, cultivation and conservation  of different varieties of plants,  for the purpose of Scientific research, display and for education. 

Arboretum :- For a greener, healthier, and more beautiful environment, the Arboretum fosters the planting and conservation of trees and other plants. It collects, explores, grows, shares knowledge about, and ultimately protects trees, just like other arboreta.

2.  One of the largest herbarium is located in 

    a) Kew        b) Geneva    c) Berlin    d) Sweden

Answer:- Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, is home to the world's greatest collection of living plants and is recognised as the world's largest botanical garden. The 300-acre garden near London is renowned as the world's largest botanical garden. It was founded in 1840.

The City of Geneva's Conservatory and Botanical Garden  is a museum and a city institution. Augustin Pyramus de Candolle founded it in 1817. The entire garden, including greenhouses, libraries, and collections, as well as the two residences "Le Chene" and "La Console," has been designated as a national cultural treasure.

The Berlin Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum is a botanical garden in Berlin, Germany's capital city. It extends to 43 hectares and has over 22,000 plant varieties.

The Gothenburg Botanical Garden is one of Europe's largest botanical gardens, located in Gothenburg, Sweden.

3. “a Herbarium is a collection of plant specimens that usually have been dried and pressed, are arranged in the sequence of an accepted classification, and are available for ref­erence or other scientific study”. Can you name whose famous quote is this ?

a)  H. M. Lawrence   b) Carolus Linnaeus  c) Luca Ghini  d)  Father Cecil John Saldanha

Answer :- H. M. Lawrence

4. The equipment used to keep the collected plant material fresh for long time?

Answer:- a) Secateur b) Plant Press c) Vasculum        d) None of these

Answer :- Vasculum        

Vasculum is a long (45-60 cm) container with oval ends, usually constructed of aluminium or tin. It has a tight-hinged lid. It's utilised to preserve the plant material obtained fresh for a long time. The vasculum is painted white to reflect light and to make it easier to find because of the contrast with the green vegetation. A belt is attached to both ends, allowing it to be carried like a bag.

Secateur: It is used  for cutting the twigs of shrubs, trees for Herbarium specimens.

Press for Plants: It's made up of two 30 cm × 45 cm wire guage frames . Three  iron plates with two holes, one on each end, are installed at an equal distance on one side of the wire-gauge frame. Similarly, the other is equipped with three more plates. Six thin ropes or chains (three on each side) should be tightened at one end with the plates' holes on both sides.

5. The herbarium specimen on whose basis a new species is described for the first time is known  as ?

a) Isotype b) Lectotype c) Holotype d) Neotype

Answer :- Holotype, the specimen designated  by the orginal author. Isotype:- any duplicate specimen of the holotype. Lectotype: a specimen or illustration designated as the type when no holotype was indicated at the time of publication. A substitute specimen was selected under unusual circumstances (accidental fire, war) to replace the holotype specimen is referred to as Neotype.

6.  Steps come first in the herbarium preparation?

a) poisoning  b)  deposition c) mounting d) collection

Answer:- Step 1. Collection :- The healthy plant specimens were collected, kept in metalic vasculum or polythene bags.

Step 2. Drying:- The collected plant material were pressed in newspapers, followed by field press to avoid the decaying of the plant material.

Step 3. Poisoning:- Mercuric chloride is used to prevent the growth of microbes. After this treatment, the plant specimens were again dried.

Step 4. Mounting, Stitching and labelling:- The completely dried plant specimens were glued and stitched on the herbarium sheets. Field data was entered.

Step 5. Deposition :- The sheets were arranged according to the Bentham and Hookers system Classification. 

7. What is the standard size of Herbarium sheet?

a) 42 x 29cm b) 42 x 30cm c) 41x 30 cm d) 43 x 29cm

Answer:- 42 x 29cm

Taxonomists preserve plant specimen in dry state by mounting it on a thick sheet of paper 42 x 29cm size. The date and location of the collection, as well as local and botanical names, family and collector's names, are all listed on the herbarium sheet's label. The height of the plant is not taken into account in the herbarium sheet.

8. Where is the largest herbarium in Asia? 

a) India c) China d) Russia d) Indonesia

Answer :-  China. Flora of China, herbarium is located in the Beijing Botanical Garden in Xiangshan. It is the largest herbaria in Asia and one of China's oldest.

9. The largest herbarium in India is located at ?

a) Gujarat b) Shibpur c) Jodhpur d) Karnataka

Answer :- Shibpur

The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden previously known as Indian Botanic Garden has the largest herbarium in India. It's at Shibpur, Howrah, which is close to Kolkata. It falls under Botanical Survey of India (BSI) of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. The gardens were founded in 1787 by Colonel Robert Kyd.

10.  What is the use of herbarium Press?

 a) preventing microbes b) keeping moisture in specimens c)for flattening and drying of specimen d) None of the above 

Answer :- for flattening and drying the specimen. 

A plant press is a piece of equipment that botanists use to flatten and dry field samples so they may be stored easily. For biological specimens to be filed in a specific herbarium, a professional plant press is manufactured to the standard maximum size.


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