I am reading this book called "Rheophytes of the World" by C.G.G.J. Van Steenis. It is such a fascinating book. I really like the author's writing style. These older writers write like they're talking to you.

Check this out on page 7 when he tells of the difficulty in identifying rheophytes because herbarium collection descriptions are vague.

"Field notes should contain all information which can be observed on the spot, that is: precise locality and habitat, frequency, and altitude, and furthermore a record of the life structure of flower, fruit and seed that will be obscured or lost in the drying process (scent, fleshyness, etc.). Many labels fall short of this information. Not long ago (1977) I made an urgent plea to collectors to improve their field data. The time is past that plant collecting consisted of two actions: grab and dry. What we need is scientific collecting, with full notes on structure, habit and habitat, enabling the taxonomist to make use of field data not otherwise available to him. I want to emphasize this strongly here."

Wow! This is writing at its best. Can you feel he is trying to educate his potential readers? Surely many collectors, botanists, students would read this book and they're be educated by him, though the topic of the book is not really "how to be a good collector"! Can feel how strongly he believes in this!