The collected plants and plant parts should be pressed and dried in a plant press. To do this, the plant is spread in between layers of absorbent paper. Pressure is then supplied to the layers either by tightening the straps of the plant press or screwing the nuts on the frame of the press. After a few days , these plants dry up and are mounted on stiff paper and fixed in position with gummed strips of paper. Each mounted specimen is then labelled with both the scientific and the common names. The date of collection, place of collection and any other points of biological interest should also be indicated. A collection of such identified plants will constitute a herbarium. Where a plant cannot be identified, each species should be given a code or a number. Such species can be identified latter with your teachers help or with the help of reference books.
