The resulting specimens resemble orthodox herbarium specimens in that they are mounted on the same size sheets and are stored in the same kind of steel or wooden cases. In other ways they are more like a loose leaf note book than herbarium specimen. The inclusive herbarium has a more difficult job to perform than the ordinary herbanum. Therefore a more complete record of the plant is required. Two guiding principles need to be stressed.
Compactness is essential.
A record of a single plant should not occupy more than one herbarium sheet if possible. Combinations of photographs and fragments will do a better job and take less space than a complete herbarium specimen. With Zea Mays, for instance, it has been found that while a pressed specimen of the entire male infloresence is useful, that a photograph, to scale, of such an inflorescence plus the pressed central spike and lowest secondary branch plus a simple diagram of the numbers and positions of branches at each node takes less space and is more useful. Accuracy is more important than appearance. If the material to be photographed is of any size, a permanent background is efficient.