There are a variety of tools and supplies you might need or want depending on the type of specimen you plan to collect. Here is a list of some commonly used items you may want to include in your collecting kit.

Field Tools

• Shovels, trowels, or my favorite Hori; for underground plant materials such as rhizomes, bulbs and roots.
• Secateurs, pruners and hand knives.
• Paint scapers are useful for bryophytes and lichens that adhere to rocks and bark.
• Gloves.
• Hand-lenses (10x and above) for seeing small features of the plant.
• Plastic bags or Ziploc bags to temporarily store plant material.
• Paper bags for large cones, fruits and other large parts of the plants that don’t press well as well as bryophytes, fungi, and lichens.
• Handlens (magnification x10)

Additional Field Supplies

• Waterproof field notebook (even if it doesn’t rain, your precious field notes will be safe from spills and long term mold issues).
• Wooden pencils to record information (not mechanical – wooden pencils are easy to sharpen in the field with your hand knife and mechanical pencils often fail due to sand, dirt and water).
• Plant tags and permanent markers.
• GPS tracking unit to record location and topographic maps (do not rely on smart phone app).
• Altimeter to determine altitude.
• Camera/phone to photograph plants.
• Binoculars so you can ID tree features (opposite or alternate branching); if you turn them around, they can become a small microscope (if you forget your hand lens).
• Download any references, checklist and apps needed for the region you will be collecting in.