Dave Eagan, guest speaker at the latest workshop at the Compass Coffeehouse is teaching people to make a proper "voucher specimen" of a plant. He is here to inform approximately 20 participants on how to identify Wisconsin's Invasive Plants of the Future - those invasives that can be found in nearby states that we can expect to see trying to get a foothold in this region.

"It's not enough to simply take a picture of a plant to document its discovery or to use to ask someone a question about it," he explains. "Since there are so many look-alikes, you need to show both sides of the leaf, the seed, the stem, the flowers and even the root if possible."

And with this introduction, Dave set out to teach people to build and use a plant press to save a sample specimen of any plant they wish to document with a voucher. He explained that it is important to note the location where a specimen lived by including a topographical map showing exactly where the plant was found. Maps are available for free at TopoZone.com. Complete details on making an herbarium voucher are provided on-line by the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity.

Photos are good to include in field work, but be sure to get enough details, usually with at least three pics.