CALIFORNIA PHENOLOGY
  • Home
  • About
    • People >
      • Faculty & Staff
      • 100 Club
      • Volunteers
    • Phenological Research
    • Project Description
    • Project Plan
    • Related Projects
    • Reports
  • Resources
    • Data Portal Tutorials
    • Digitization FAQ / Help page
    • Document Library
    • Equipment Recommendations
    • Georeferencing >
      • Georeferencing in CCH2 Training Course
      • Georeferencing Protocols and Guides
      • Georeferencing Webinar
    • Phenological Scoring
    • Workflow & Protocols
    • Webinars
  • Research
    • Presentations and Posters
    • Papers and Publications
  • Education & Outreach
    • Educational Materials
    • Herbarium Digitization Course
    • Media & News
    • Meetings & Upcoming Talks
    • Phenology Research Course (beta)
  • Blog
  • Data Portal

50 Shades of Herbarium Specimens

1/21/2021

0 Comments

 
To kick off the new year, the CAP Network is leading another multi-institution herbarium digitization course. This online course of 30 students meets synchronously via Zoom, once per week, to transcribe specimen labels on Notes from Nature. Along the way, we've encountered many of the unique forms that herbarium specimens can take.
Because the most obvious features of a plant--namely the leaves--are not always the best diagnostic characters (i.e., characters that can help you identify the plant), collectors will sample other parts of the plant. Reproductive structures are often critical, but other features such as bark or a cross-section of the stem can aid in identification and further analysis.
Picture
Picture
However, in some cases, what you see on the sheet is all that the collector had to work with at the time. If you're collecting in the winter, all you might be able to find is twigs, dead leaves, and dry remnants of fruits...but that doesn't stop some collectors from documenting the occurrence anyway!
Picture
Picture
A specimen need not be beautiful to be useful. Each collection documents the conditions at a unique place and time, and it captures the status of plants at that historical point. Keep an eye on our class website for new and interesting specimen discoveries and for a tally of our progress as our students digitize these precious data snapshots.
0 Comments

    Author

    This blog is curated by the project manager of the California Phenology Network, Katie Pearson.

    Archives

    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019

    Categories

    All
    Collctors
    Scientific Names
    Taxonomy
    Type Specimen
    Veterans

Picture
This project made possible by National Science Foundation Award 1802312.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


Poppy images courtesy of Matt Ritter

Contact Us