“Herbaria: A Guide for Young People” is a delight. Written and illustrated by Kelly LaFarge, this book blends a mix of drawings and photographs along with lift-up flaps and fold out pages to introduce these critical institutions to an audience that appreciates an interactive experience.
In just 32 pages, the author guides the reader through the intricacies of collecting and preserving plants while explaining the value of such collections. The scope is global, both for places of plant collection, and the location of significant herbarium collections.
Even though I’m familiar with the Otis Douglas Hyde Herbarium next door to the Miller Library, I learned many new facts. For example, while familiar with herbarium sheets that are 16.5 x 11.5 inches, I didn’t know that “all herbaria around the world use the exact same size paper. This makes it easy to trade and store exchanged specimens.”
Excerpted from Brian Thompson’s article in the Summer 2023 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin