The Vouchering Committee of the Martin County Chapter has been running an active and effective vouchering program since 2023. The effort is aimed at expanding the official record of plants found in Martin County and St. Lucie County, as represented in the Atlas of Florida Plants. Since inception, the committee has collected and submitted herbarium specimens for over 50 plants, as of 2026, previously unrecorded in Martin or St. Lucie counties.

The committee members represent a range of professional and amateur experience who all share a passion and enthusiasm for Florida discovering plants in the wild. The committee uses field observations, site survey records, and iNaturalist sightings to help locate plants for collection. All collections are made with prior written permission of the property owner, whether public or private. Collection of listed threatened or endangered species must be pre-authorized by the relevant government agencies. The committee then works closely with the University of South Florida Herbarium in Tampa to prepare and submit collected specimens.

To date, these botanical treasure hunters have collected voucher specimens of trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and groundcovers, including orchids and carnivorous plants, and one species that hadn’t previously been documented as occurring anywhere in Florida. 

This is very much a group effort! Anyone interested in knowing more about the program, even to simply tag along on a field excursion, is encouraged to get in touch.