ABSTRACT
Recognizing an unknown plant is an important constituent taxonomic activity. A plant specimen is identified by comparison with already known herbarium specimens in a herbarium, and by utilizing the available literature and comparing the description of the unknown plant with the published description/s. Since the bulk of our plant wealth grows in areas far removed from the centres of botanical research and training, it becomes imperative to collect a large number of specimens on each outing. For proper description and documentation, these specimens have to be suitably prepared for incorporation and permanent storage in a herbarium. This goes a long way in compiling floristic accounts of the different regions of the world. The availability of the specimens in the herbaria often provides reasonable information about the abundance or rarity of a species, and helps in preparing lists of rare or endangered species, and also provides sufficient inputs for efforts towards their conservation.
