Cabinet of Curiosities

Fuzzy, cotton-like masses threatened to float into the air as Jan turned to the next pressed plant sheet of the morning. The seed fluff, meant to be part of the specimen, had detached from the plant and dozens of seeds were now loose in the folder. They clung to the dried plant fibers, but otherwise, were ready to scatter at the slightest movement. Jan’s response to the problem reflected her years of experience working with the museum’s herbarium collection. She quietly stopped at the doorway of my office and asked for a small bag – calmly noting “a few loose seeds." Loose seeds of tall thimbleweed ( Anemone virginiana ) make for a mess in our herbarium, though they're a good adaptation for natural seed dispersal towards the plant's reproductive efforts. Loose seeds in an herbarium are not uncommon. As plant specimens are collected from the field, the delicate task of pressing them begins. Sometimes the natural dispersal mechanism of the plant, especially those adapted f...