Purpose behind Collections

[oldnick]

Not having done any Herbarium work myself, I feel what may be missing from the project / the BSBI 'Herbaria' page, are some 'guides' to the collections. Faced with huge numbers of 'common' species, the ignorant may simply feel at a loss as to the value of these C19 & C20 efforts.
From the sheets I have worked on, I perceive, correctly or otherwise, the following:
Obviously, amassing a 'stamp album' of all species for a particular person, area, or institution; or for a circulating club;
Collector seeking identification/verification;
Series of a species or genus from different regions / habitats / altitudes etc; or studying distribution of a species;
Cultivated specimens, to investigate whether two varieties differ essentially, or simply due to environment, eg collected in the Highlands & grown on in Surrey; or hybridisation experiments, eg pondweeds;
As a 'virtual guide' to a garden collection; eg of willows of the British Isles, grown in Bournemouth;
...etc.