Guide to Collecting Living Plants in the Field

In a time of continuing habitat destruction and species loss it is vitally important to ensure that fundamental botanical work is being carried out in order to identify, assess and conserve biodiversity around the world. Much of this work is dependent on the collection of living plant material that can then be made available for current and future research.

More than 17,500 unique types of plants are grown in the four gardens (Edinburgh, Benmore, Dawyck and Logan) of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and, on average, more than half of these are of known wild origin. Written by the team that is responsible for this collection on a day-to-day basis and from the field to the glasshouse, Guide to Collecting Living Plants in the Field provides a best practice standard for making good living plant collections in the field.

Subjects covered include permits, equipment, data collecting and the aftercare of collected specimens. Individual sections cover the collection of seed and fruit, spores, cuttings, plants and seedlings and rhizomes, tubers and bulbs.

This pocket-sized booklet presents the basic information in a clear, concise format making it an essential guide for students and early career researchers, as well as botanists and ecologists who may not have been trained in collecting techniques. The design of Guide to Collecting Living Plants in the Field means that it can fit into a pocket, making it easy to take into the field as an informative quick reference guide to collecting living plants.