Tippery Lab

Collect plant material from fresh, healthy (green) portions of the plant near the growing tips. Where possible, avoid leaves with brown/yellow areas, or insect or fungal damage.

Voucher specimens help to make the DNA sequence data more broadly useful. Plan to send about 18 inches (45 cm) of stem tip, containing flowers and/or fruits, if possible. If you are unable to send a full-size voucher, you can send single leaves in a smaller container.

Another option is to send material that you have dried before sending. The video above shows a method for pressing plants, using a specialized piece of equipment. If you do not have access to a plant press, you can achieve a similar effect by pressing between pieces of cardboard, using a weight on top.

Plant specimens should be dried between sheets of newspaper, with steady air flow at a temperature around 100°F, for about one week or until no more moisture can be detected. Alternatively, you can dry smaller samples using a desiccant such as silica gel.

Plants should be cleaned of debris, soil, and dead tissue, all of which can hasten decay.

Fresh plant material can be sent inside an airtight (e.g., Ziploc®) bag. For aquatic plants, clean the plants of soil and algae before sending. For aquatic plants, include a damp (not wet) paper towel to maintain high humidity. However, make sure the bag is free of standing water, which can hasten decay.

Dried specimens have several advantages: they are lighter in weight and smaller in bulk, and there is no need to mail them quickly. Fresh material, on the other hand, is prone to decay if the plants are kept for too long, surrounded by standing water, or pressed tightly together without air. To prevent decay of fresh material, try to send the samples so that they arrive within two days of sending.

The video above shows the process of cleaning aquatic plants.

The video above shows the process of packaging fresh aquatic plants for shipment.

The video above shows how aquatic plants can be dried at room temperature by pressing in newspaper.

Plants can be dried quickly using silica gel beads. The beads absorb moisture and are the fastest way to remove water from a plant specimen. Make sure to include enough silica beads to absorb all of the moisture in your specimen, and limit the size of the specimen so that it can dry out entirely. Store and ship dried specimens in an airtight bag to keep them dry.

Silica gel is rather inexpensive and easily obtained online. Beads that are advertised as "indicating" will change color if they absorb so much moisture that they are no longer effective. Blue and orange indicating beads are equally effective.

The video above shows how specimens can be dried in silica gel desiccant.

Send dried or fresh material by mail to the address below.
(Mail at the beginning of the week to avoid weekend delays.)

Dr. Nicholas Tippery
Biology Dept, UW-Whitewater
800 W Main St
Whitewater, WI 53190

Chain of custody form

Download and fill out a separate chain of custody form for each sample, and include the completed form in your shipment.
If you intend to test multiple samples from the same locality, include the samples in separate bags and give each bag a unique label.