10 BIODIVERSITY, OCCURENCE OF ORGANISMS AND THEIR EXTINCTION IS THE RESULT OF EVOLUTION

Time of collection and storage of individual parts of plants

Active substances are present in various parts of plants (flowers, leaves, berries, buds, roots, seeds,etc.) and often in different quantities. There are therefore rules for collecting medicinal plants (see Table 1).

**Table 1:** Rules for medicinal herbs collection
Part of the plant	Collection time
leaves and stems*	shortly before blooming, in the time of blooming
flowers	buds, before full opening
fruits and seeds	in full ripeness
roots and rhizomes	in the period of vegetative rest (spring,autumn)
bark	the beginning of vegetation period

* stem = a long flowering stalk with the first two leaves from the flower

We store the medicinal plants in paper or cloth opaque bags, well dried and in a dry place.