Replicas of botanical surfaces are sometimes preferred for imaging in the SEM, instead of original surfaces, in cases where it is not possible or desirable, for a variety of reasons, to prepare originais using conventional techniques (chemical fixation followed by dehydration and critical point drying, freeze drying, or cryo-SEM). Samples may be rare (herbarium specimens), or impossible to bring into the lab for processing, and field replication may be the only alternative.