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Botany, Forestry, and Plant Science

Highlights

The following is an alphabetical listing of Internet (World Wide Web sites) related to the disciplines of botany, forestry, and plant sciences.

  • The Amazing Story of Kudzu A fascinating story of one of the most prolific growing vines in the Southeastern U.S. This nonindigenous plant now literally covers more than 7 million acres in the South.
  • The American Phytopathological Society Phytopathology, or plant pathology is the study of diseases of plants. This is the Web site of the professional in that field of study. This site provides a link to Common Names of Plant Diseases is a reference containing approved names of diseases and their related pathogens/causes, grouped by more than 50 common hosts. Compiled by the APS committee on standar dization of common names for plant diseases, the names are official for use in APS publications .
  • The American Society of Plant Taxonomists The American Society of Plant Taxonomists promotes research and teaching in the taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny of vascular and nonvascular plants. Direct link to current and past issues of the newsletter, ASPT Newsletter is provided.
  • The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Information about the Earth's oldest surviving inhabitant.
  • Aquatic and Wetland Plant Database "APIRS [Aquatic Plant Information retrieval System] maintains a computerized bibliographic database (Copyright University of Florida, 1997) devoted to freshwater aquatic and wetland plants. The database includes citations for more than 44,000 research articles, books, and reports about aquatic plant ecology, physiology, utilization and control. Items in many languages dating back to the 18th century are in this inclusive database." Requires FREE registration to use.
  • Argus Clearinghouse - Botany The Argus Clearinghouse provides a central access point for value-added topical guides which identify, describe, and evaluate Internet-based information resources. This page provides links to Internet guides related specifically to botany. Other guides related to plant science, agriculture, forestry, and general biology can be located from the Science and Mathematics page and the Environment page.
  • Biosphere Reserves Biosphere reserves are major centers for academic and government-sponsored research in the ecological sciences. The vast living laboratories are also centers for much research related to botany, forestry, and the plant sciences. Links include the major complex known as the U.S. Man in the Biosphere Program , a complex of research areas through the U.S. The U.S. MAB Program, is developing a worldwide database of vascular plants, MABFlora (and is also creating the MAB Fauna Database ).
  • Botanical Society of America A professional organization devoted to the study and research of plants. Includes detailed information about the society and its infrastructure, conferences, publications, and programs. Also provide access to Botany Related WWW Sites , a comprehensive resource.
  • The American Society of Plant Physiologists Professional society promoting the development of plant physiology, encourage and publish research in plant physiology, and to promote the interests and growth of pl ant science in general. This site includes an outstanding inventory of Internet resources in the plant sciences.
  • Garden and Forest The Preservation Reformatting Division of the Library of Congress's first digitizing project is Garden and Forest: A Journal of Horticulture, Landscape Art, and Forestry was the first American journal devoted to horticulture, botany, landscape design and preservation, national and urban park development, scientific forestry, and the conservation of forest resources. The full ten-volume run of Garden and Forest contains approximately 8,400 pages, including over 1,000 illustrations.
  • Botanical Society of America "The Botanical Society of America exists to promote research and teaching in all fields of plant biology, to facilitate cooperation among plant biologists and other scientists worldwide, and to disseminate knowledge of plants, algae and fungi to all groups of society for ultimate application to solving practical problems of humanity." Site includes a very comprehensive inventory of Botany WWW Sites and a VERY comprehensive and frequently updated inventory of Electronic Sites of Leading Botany, Plant Biology and Science Journals .
  • Botany A comprehensive site that provides multidisciplinary access to botany-related resources from around the world. Links to the Internet Directory for Botany and the Directory of Spanish Association of Parks and Public Gardens .
  • Botany: Internet Resources This site provides access to a vast array of botany-related resources on the Internet: Herbaria and Collections, Floras, Botanical Gardens, Educational Institutions, Listservs and Newsgroups, and Major Gateways (lists of lists).
  • Botany K-12 Links Resources for elementary and secondary educators and others interested in teaching children about plants and the biology of plants. See the SEL Biology/Science Teaching site for additional resources for science teachers (emphasis on biology) at all levels from K-12 and above.
  • Botany Links An inventory of botany resources.
  • Botany Virtual Library A comprehensive inventory of botany resources available on the internet and World Wide Web.
  • Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) A world reknown, private research institute located at Cornell University. Includes links to various BTI research programs and initiatives.
  • Careers in Botany This is an online version of the brochure "Careers in Botany" distributed by the Botanical Society of America (BSA). For more information on careers, you can link to the SELBiology Careers Site , which has career planning and job announcement section in botany and plant sciences.
  • Carnivorous Plant Database This database includes over 3000 entries giving an exhaustive nomenclature synopsis of all carnivorous plants.
  • Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Resources, services, and research in plant science.
  • Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-Conferences -- Botany A listing of electronic, online, discussion groups related to botany and horticulture. Provides scope of site and how to subscribe. Other botany-related conferences: Agriculture and Horticulture
  • The Flora of North America This site is gathering and making available, in a variety of media, scientifically authoritative, up-to-date information on the approximately 20,000 species of vascular plants and br yophytes of North America north of Mexico.
  • FlowerWeb A database offering over 7,000 pictures of flowers, plants and garden plants. The Flowerbase is a collaboration between Glasshouse Business Networks and Pictura Nobilis.
  • Forestry Virtual Library A comprehensive inventory of Internet and World Wide Web resources.
  • Garden Gate "The Garden Gate offers gardeners and nature lovers a carefully-selected and well-organized collection of links to informative and interesting horticulture sites around the world." Site includes a glossary of botany terms .
  • Index of Protista, Plants, and Fungi An inventory of photographs, WWW sites, Internet resources, and text related to plants from their most simple forms to their most complex.
  • Indices Nominum Supragenericorum Plantarum Vascularium "With the cooperation of the National Agricultural Library the Indices Nominum Supragenericorum Plantarum Vascularium is made available publicly via the Internet. The project is a joint effort between the International Association for Plant Taxonomy and the Norton-Brown Herbarium at the University of Maryland. Its purpose is to capture all valid and legitimate extant vascular plants names proposed above the rank of genus."
  • Index Ominum Genericorum "The Index Nominum Genericorum (ING), a collaborative project of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) and the Smithsonian Institution, was initiated in 1954 as a compilation of generic names published for all organisms covered by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature."
  • Institute of Plant Molecular Biology Research interests of the IPMB cover a variety of subtopics in the field of plant molecular biology, including, "plant molecular biology to ecological studies; main subjects include genetic engineering of plants, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, molecular genetics and diagnosis of plant viruses and viroids, and biophysics and physiology of photosynthesis."
  • International Society for Plant Molecular Biology ISPMB was founded to provide professional recognition to the rapidly emerging field of plant molecular biology.
  • Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology A Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Scholars Laboratory located in Poland. Primary focus is on methodologies related to molecular biology of plants and related research interests.
  • Links for Palaeobotanists Inventories of Internet and WWW resources for palaeobotanists. The site has an emphasis on the Upper Triassic period.
  • National Wildflower Research Center "The purpose of the National Wildflower Research Center is to educate people about the environmental necessity, economic value, and natural beauty of native plants. The Wildflower Center maintains one of the largest collections of information about native North American plants, and makes this information available to more than 20,000 members across North America as well as landscape professionals and gardeners around the world."
  • New England Wild Flower Society Home page for one of the oldest plant research and conservation societies in the country with a focus on plants of temperate North America.
  • The New York Botanical Garden The garden was founded in 1891 by botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton. Today, this National Historic Landmark is recognized for its horticultural excellence, educational programs, and scientific research. Situated on 250 acres in the Bronx, the northernmost borough of New York City, it includes 27 outdoor gardens and plant collections, the nation's most beautiful Victorian conservatory and a 40-acre pre-settlement forest." The Plant Information Page is maintained on the NYBG site. The NYBG newsletter, The Herbarium Sheet , is available full-text (a link from the current issue is provided for older online issues).
  • Plant Biotechnology Institute of the National Research Council Canada's pre-eminent research organization dedicated to plant science and biotechnology applications of botany.
  • Plant Gene Register An database for articles in the journal, Plant Physiology (American Society of Plant Physiologists) describing the isolation and DNA sequence determination of plant genes (1995 - present).
  • Plants and Our Environment An outstanding teaching resource for middle school and junior high school teachers and students. Many illustrations demonstrating structure-function relationships.
  • Science Library -- School of Plant Science Useful refernce links provided by the University of Tasmania.
  • Seeds of Life EVERYTHING you want or need to know about seeds. Many illustrations accompany a well-written text. Links to a basic Glossary of plant science and botanical terms.
  • Society for Experimental Biology The Society for Experimental Biology is a non-profit registered charity, dedicated to the promotion of all aspects of experimental biology. It organises meetings, publishes scientific journals & books, and promotes educational aspects of biology, including those related to botany and plant science: Plant Biology Section and its Plant Environmental Physiology Group

Organizations and Societies

Several plant-related sites from the Evolutionary Biology Web site (also serving the needs of the biology class, Evolutionary Biology, BIO200):

Botanical Gardens and Arboreta

Botanical gardens and arboretums, much like Museums and Science Centers , provide extensive access to information and other resources for research and the study of plants. Other sources of worldwide arboretuems, botanical gardens, and conservatories include Gardening @ Closerange and Botanical Gardens Around the World .

Listed here are botanical gardens and related resources in the U.S.:

Botanical Art Sites

Elia T. Ben-Ari wrote an outstanding article, "Better than a thousand words: Botnical artists blend science with aesthetics," in the August 1999 issue of the journal, Bio Science (Undergraduate Library QH1 A277, Health Sciences Library) (vol. 49, no. 8, pp. 602-608, 1999). The article describes the history of botanical art and the illustration of plants by physicians, pharmacists, and researchers. In addition to a most interesting text on the history and function of art in botany, Ben-Ari provides an extremely usefuls series of resources for botanical illustration online. The following is a listing of the Internet/WWW site provided

American Society of Botanical Artists
http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/ASBA/ASBotArtists.html
The American Society of Botanical Artists, Inc. (ASBA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting public awareness of botanical art and to encouraging the development of this continuing artistic tradition.

Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries, Inc. (CBHL)
http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/CBHL/CBHL.html
The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries, Inc. (CBHL) is an international organization of individuals, organizations and institutions concerned with the development, maintenance and use of libraries of botanical and horticultural literature.

The Flora of North America (FNA)
http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/FNA/
A 30-volume printed resource (several volumes appear online) of more than 21,000 species of plants in North America (Canada, Mexico, and the United States). You can search by location, elevation, species of common names. Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey, illustration coordinator.

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
http://pw2.netcom.com/~roses/gnsi/
A nonprofit organization helping members connect with each other, promoting developments in the profession, setting high professional standards, and promoting itself to potential clients and the general public. GNSI was founded at the Smithsonian Institution in 1968 and has grown to eleven chapters and over 1100 members worldwide.

Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation is a research division of the Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and maintains one of the wolrd's largest collections of botanical art, illustrations, and literature. Site images and text reveal the artistic nature of plants, flowers, and other botanicals.

Smithsonian Catalog of Botanical Illustrations
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botart/
A database of more than 3,000 botanical illustrations with more than 500 images in three families (Bromeliaceae, Cactaceae, and Melastomatacaea) completed. Alice Tangerini, staff illustrator and Ellen Farr and Laurence Dorr, Web development staff.