Thanks for the tips.

I certainly do want to give specimens to a place that would appreciate them. University of Panama Herbarium sounds good.

Good to know, also, that Revilla has Uniball pens – I hadn’t seen them here yet, but I’ll admit that I actually prefer pencil for this kind of thing.

What a great start! I’m impressed.

I’m rather new at pressing plants, but I have a couple of suggestions I picked up from visiting botanists and the folks at the University of Panama herbarium on my heliconia collections:

Be sure to note any measurements and details that are lost in the sample: overall size of the plant, color of the flowers, texture of the bark, any aroma, etc.

Leave the press on edge to let warm air flow up through the corrugations, carrying moisture with it. Change the newspapers, and even cardboard, daily for juicy specimens. Spray lightly with Lysol if the specimens begin to rot.

If you would like to give specimens to the U.P. herbarium – they would certainly appreciate having them – make them fit on one half of a sheet of newspaper. Arrgghh! Heliconias don’t fit on half a page! I use two or three pages for each specimen.

Note on note-taking: you can get a waterproof, fadeproof Uniball brand pen at Revilla in David, if you’d prefer it over a pencil.