Botany is one of those things that has never been accessible to non-scientists, or a member of an elite class of strange reclusive genius that spent hours a day in safari outfits, roaming the woods with tiny magnifying loupes and tweezers. Although, the tools are the same and spending time in the woods is still required. The safari outfit is now optional and there is a book to help you decode the plant world, so anyone can key out plants.
Whats that you say? What is Botany? What do you mean key out plants?
“The study of botany is the study of patterns in plants”. That is the first sentence in the book Botany in a day by Thomas J. Elpel, the book that I was referring to as a plant decoder. By keying out plants I'm talking about learning to recognize plant family characteristics and patterns, by learning the parts of the flower. Flowers are the key to the plant world, how poetic. Nature is wondrous.
Here are my tools for plant identifying. Botany in a day, loupe 20x, journal and a pen.
All plants studied have a unique two-part botanical name that is mostly formed from Latin and classical Greek roots or some Latinized phrase from another language. The first of the two names is the genus name (plural genera), the first letter is always capitalized. Example Urtica. The second is always lower-cased and is the species name. Both are always italicized. Example Urtica dioica (also known as the amazing stinging nettle). These names are important because on every continent and in every language this is the standardized name for this plant. It is the universal plant language, it opens up knowledge about the natural world in every piece of our beautiful planet.
And why would I want to learn to do that? Most plant family's have similar properties and characteristics. Which means, if you are lost deep in the woods ,on a continent you are not familiar with, you can find the same family of plants you're familiar with. Quite a survival tool.
These are the questions the book asks you during the keying out process. Always start with the outside of the flower and work your way inward. That is standard when keying out plants in the book Botany in a day.
Is your plant a monocot or a dicot?
Is your plant a member of the Aster family?
Is your flower a Regular or irregular flower? Bisexual or unisexual?
Sepals- are they separate or united? How many? Color?
Petals – separate or united? How many? Color?
Stamens – Separate or fused to each other or to the pistil? How many? Are they alternate or opposite from the petals.
How many Chambers, Carpels, Styles and Pistils.
It may seem overwhelming at first, but if you look at the list closer and not let the official snooty names of plant parts intimidate you it is mostly counting parts of plants. And once you know your parts, the world is open to you! It is an amazing feeling being able to take a book in the woods and get to know any plant of your choosing. The gratifying feeling you get after keying out a plant, holding it in front of you and addressing it by its name. In tribal times in all cultures around the world, plant knowledge was an important part of survival, culture, and storytelling. It is what kept them alive. Today we have drifted away and have lost so much of what we used to know. I think it's important for our DNA to feel that connection with the plants again. To call them by their names, to know their medicine, to know their edibility and secrets.