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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.
Nice work on this post. I love your picture of the world journal and the book. It looks like an adventure.
Thanks @happymoneyman! Hope you are enjoying your day!
Great info. I agree with your last few sentences 100%!!
I feel really passionately that getting back in touch with nature is one of the first steps to building a more connected and mindful community. When you know the forest is full of food and medicine it gives you a confidence in the wild, natural world. It's so cool!
Oh YES!!! Agreed!!! 100% I know really very little but am always wanting to learn more. I have a deep appreciation for the forest.
A subject close to my heart and health.. lol
I'm sharing this important info.
I just posted this a bit ago:
https://steemit.com/homesteading/@mamadini/self-knowledge-and-learning-to-take-care-of-yourself-using-natural-ways
Thank you for the Resteem @mamadini! I really recommend that book if you don't have it. It has transformed my relationship with plants, I'm truly grateful for it.
Just ordered it! I am a huge supporter of hard copy information on my homestead (which I call cottage) -- this book somehow has never crossed my path and I am grateful for that today.
Thank you.
Nice post, well done! :)
Thank you!
good stuff, just found you via @OCD
Thank you for reading!
As a forager, Tom Elpel is one of my favorite authors!! He also wrote a book called, Foraging the Mountain West, and it taught me so much! One of the best things I learned was about identifying the mustard family which has over 3,200 species, all of which are edible. He teaches that all you need to know to identify all these edible plants in the mustard family is that they have 4 petals with 6 stamens--4 tall and 2 short. The mint family has a similar identification trick. Always thankful to find someone with similar interest! I'm lovin this post and also following! 💚
Tom Elpel is a legend! I was lucky to have been able to spend some time with him in northern Idaho for a foraging class. We spent a month foraging and living in the deep woods. It was life changing. Foraging the Mountain West taught me a whole lot too! I also recommend that book. So nice to meet you, love knowing other people that get excited about plants!