The Joy of Collecting Specimens

Dr. DIPON SHARMAH

To teach biology at school, graduate, or postgraduate levels, one thing that always occupies centre stage is the use of live or preserved specimens. Ask any biology teacher, and they will tell you how essential specimens are in making classes lively.  Being a biology teacher, I have always been captivated by the idea of collecting specimens. This pursuit has led me to some of the most beautiful and biodiverse hotspot regions of India.

My first experience with specimen collection was during a college education trip to Gangtok and Darjeeling in the eastern Himalayas. As botany students, we collected species like Selaginella and Lycopodium. These are shade-loving plants and propagate via spores rather than seeds. From that collection, a friend gifted me a framed Lycopodium plant, which still adorns my wall! The following year, we travelled to the western Himalayas (Nainital and Almora) and collected specimens for our herbarium submission.

Later, during university days, I contributed one tree fern, a tall fern resembling a tree, collected from Tippi, a picturesque village in Arunachal Pradesh, to the University Botanical Resource Centre. I vividly recall the 250 km bus journey from Tippi to Guwahati, with the fern carefully placed by my side. It was a joy answering the curious questions of fellow passengers and feeling the pride of being its collector. The curator of the department was excited to receive the plant.

Years later, when I secured a teaching position, my passion for specimen collection was reignited. This renewed zeal was because my posting was on a tropical island that never experienced winter. Consequently, a whole range of lower groups of plants like different moss species, Lycopodium, ferns, etc., were scarce or absent from the landscape.

Conducting educational tours to high-altitude areas became the perfect solution for collecting specimens! A few years ago, during one such tour of the biodiversity-rich Nilgiri Hills (Ooty and Coonoor), we collected many specimens unavailable in the isles. The famous Ooty Botanical Garden was full of bushy lichens, hanging from tree branches or scattered on the ground. We collected these generously. Similarly, the well-known Sims Park in Coonoor was a treasure trove of specimens. We spent hours exploring these gardens and scouring the ground. These valuable specimens with their reproductive structures were carefully packed in bottles or carry bags and quickly preserved upon reaching our destination.

To effectively teach students about rust fungus, which causes disease in wheat, we need wheat specimens infected with rust. However, when the department's supply of these infected specimens is depleted, one has to wait until fresh specimens are procured. Sometimes, the process takes years! To overcome this issue, I brought the leaves of the Justicia plant from Assam. This plant is also susceptible to rust fungus and produces beautiful spores. It is commonly grown as a fencing material in villages of Assam.

Last year, we visited the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats (Coorg) for our specimen collection trip. Collecting specimens in Coorg was far more challenging than in any other place I had visited. While collecting specimens, we were caught off guard by a silent attack from an army of leeches! It took us some time to realise the gravity of the situation. Everyone ran for shelter! There were leeches inside our shoes, on our hair and even onto our cheeks. It felt as if they were falling from the sky!

Despite the chaos, my determination to collect specimens was not shaken. With utmost care and using some old tricks that my father had shared with me for dealing with leeches, we successfully collected Lycopodium with beautiful strobili. It was indeed a leech-laden day!

The next day, when I asked one of my students about his experience collecting specimens in such leech-infested spots, he smiled and replied, “Sir, where do we have to collect today?’ I felt content, knowing that I had inspired my students to embrace the art of specimen collection with the same enthusiasm and dedication!

At the same time, I hope that my collection spree doesn't raise the eyebrows of conservationists or conflict with the principles outlined by B.A. Minteer et al. in their seminal work 'Avoiding (re)extinction'. A judicious collection of biological specimens is the most prudent way to live harmoniously with nature. Specimen collection will remain an important tool for learning and research. For me, it also brings joy, because every preserved specimen tells a beautiful story!

(The author is Assistant Professor & HOD in the PG Department of Botany at Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Email: sharmah.dipon@gmail.com)