Fieldwork, while extremely important to the study of botany, is not always pleasant. Botanists put themselves in many difficult situations when going into the field to collect. They face dangerous terrain, unpredictable weather, annoying insects, uncomfortable travel conditions, and exposure to disease.. Botanists venture into new territories, scale giant trees, hang off rocky cliffs, and even dive underwater in search of new plants.
Botanists take to the field to bring home new varieties of plants for study. New discoveries can provide alternative food sources and medicines. All provide insight into the complexity of the living world. As Thomas Jefferson noted: "The greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture..." [The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, 1900].
Besides the possibility of agricultural or medicinal value, there is also an element of excitement in being the first to find and identify a new species of plant. Roland Thaxter (1858-1932), Professor of Cryptogamic Botany and Curator of the Farlow Herbarium, stated in a diary entry from his 1905 collecting trip to South America, "The heart of Smith, poor man, could not beat in unison with the sensation of a botanist at the moment of his first contact with a wholly strange flora."
View the In the Field exhibit.
Web Exhibit Created 2002, Updated 2011.