How to Make a Herbarium: Collecting, Pressing and Mounting Plants

A herbarium is a collection of pressed, dried plants mounted on individual sheets. It was once botanists’ most important tool, and today herbaria are made by schoolchildren, nature lovers and anyone who wants to keep a memory of a walk, a trip or a favourite garden. Here is how to collect plants, dry them properly and mount them beautifully. For more methods, see how to dry flowers from a bouquet.

Fresh flowers for inspiration: spray roses and chrysanthemums.

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A little history

The method of pressing plants and fixing them to paper is credited to the 16th-century Italian botanist Luca Ghini. Since then herbaria have been the backbone of botany: the world’s largest scientific collections hold millions of specimens used to describe and compare species.

How to collect plants

• Collect in dry weather once the dew has gone: damp specimens go mouldy and dark.
• For a scientific herbarium take the whole plant, with leaves, flowers and, where possible, roots or fruit. For decorative use, pretty sprigs, leaves and flowers are enough.
• Do not pick protected plants or collect in nature reserves. Which wildflowers to leave alone is covered in “Wildflowers”.
• Note the place and date straight away; they are easy to forget.

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How to press and dry

• Lay the plant between sheets of absorbent paper (newspaper, blotting or printer paper), spreading out the leaves and petals.
• Place the stack between two boards or heavy books and add weight on top.
• Change the paper daily for the first few days, then less often: plants dry faster and keep their colour better.
• Drying usually takes one to three weeks, depending on how thick the plant is.
• Cut fleshy plants and thick flowers such as roses in half, or press the petals separately.

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How to mount a sheet

• Use heavy paper or card in A4 or A3 size.
• Fix the plant with narrow strips of paper or tape; use glue sparingly on delicate specimens.
• Add a label in the lower right corner: plant name, place and date collected, and the collector’s name.
• Store the sheets in a folder or box somewhere dry, away from sunlight, which fades them.

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Pressed plants in decor

Pressed plants make framed pictures, bookmarks, cards and resin pendants. The Japanese art of pictures made from pressed flowers is called oshibana; read more in “Oshibana”, and on dried flowers in bouquets in “Preserved and dried flowers”.

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FAQ

Why have my pressed plants turned dark?

Most likely they were collected damp or the paper was not changed often enough.

Can I dry plants with an iron or in a microwave?

Yes, for decorative use: it is faster, but colour and shape are kept less well than with slow pressing.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

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