Botany & Plant Sciences: Web Resources

Use this interactive map, provide by the American Public Gardens Association, to find a public garden in your location.

Classification, description of plant families, phylogeny

Major plant families and plant systematics

Contains a wide variety of terms associated with botany and paleobotany (which is the study of plant fossils, or ancient plants).

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's web portal for native plant information and resources for a broad audience.

Perennials.com is presented by Heritage Perennials® and has been an
online perennial gardening resource since 2001. Over 1 million people visit this site every year and was ranked by Google as one of the top resources for perennial information.

The mission of the PGROP site is to provide a centralized access point for locating Plant Genome Research "Outreach" activities, programs and resources.

Use Plant Information Online to discover sources in 1,003 North American nurseries for 78,906 plants, find 396,895 citations to 143,015 plants in science and garden literature, and access information on 2,741 North American seed and nursery firms. Plant Information Online is a free service of the University of Minnesota Libraries.

The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.

Phylogenetic data submitted by authors, all organismal groups

The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. The project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history (phylogeny).

The Plantae includes all land plants: mosses, ferns, conifers, flowering plants, and so on—an amazing range of diverse forms. With more than 250,000 species, they are second in size only to the arthropoda.

Plant systematics from the University of California Museum of Paleontology

The information contained in this web-accessible version of Vascular Plant Systematics, Chapter 6, is copyrighted, 1998, by the authors and is usable only as a web-accessible resource exclusively for educational and research purposes related to botanical terminology.

Large taxonomic database, includes images

Online, interactive key for identifying plants by characters

The Agroforestree (AFT) Database is a species reference and selection guide for agroforestry trees. Agroforestry trees are those that are deliberately grown or kept in integrated land-use systems and are often managed for more than one output.

Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products (ASNAPP) is a value chain development organization established to enhance growth in the African indigenous plant products and horticultural Industries by intervening and building capacity along the supply chain to boost productivity, competitiveness and increase private/public investments to reduce poverty and hunger.

Directory of websites, blogs, businesses and tools related to ethnobotany.

Home of the electronic version of "A Modern Herbal" by Maud Grieve, originally published in 1931. A Modern Herbal is a resource for herbal information.

Databases based on plant name, chemicals, or uses.

The aim of this web journal is to facilitate publication in all areas of ethnobotany.
Note: Ethnobotanical Leaflets has ceased publication and is no longer accepting submissions. Issues from 1997 - 2010 are available online.

Ethnobotany Research & Applications is an electronic, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal devoted to the rapid dissemination of current research.
***Please note that this journal is not accepting submissions as of October 1, 2015.***

Dedicated to the transfer of information on the use of herbs and other natural products in biochemistry, pharmacology, and traditional medicine.

The Internet Directory of Botany is an index to botanical information available on the Internet, compiled by Anthony R. Brach [brach (at) oeb.harvard.edu] (Harvard University Herbarium, Cambridge / Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, USA, www page), Raino Lampinen (Botanical Museum, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Finland; www page), Shunguo Liu [cathay (at) cathay.net] (SHL Systemhouse, Edmonton, Canada; www page) and Keith McCree (Oakridge, Oregon; www page).

Located on the campus the University of Washington in Seattle, the Medicinal Herb Garden is a resource for herbalists, medics, and botanists of all levels.

The hyper-text version of... A Modern Herbal, first published in 1931, by Mrs. M. Grieve, contains Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs.

A Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants.

Images and information to support research on poisonous plants of veterinary importance.

From the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University, a database of plants poisonous to livestock.
This is a growing reference that includes plant images, pictures of affected animals and presentations concerning the botany, chemistry, toxicology, diagnosis and prevention of poisoning of animals by plants and other natural flora (fungi, etc.).

PROTA is an interdisciplinary program coordinated by Wageningen University.

Psychoactive plants.
Erowid is a member-supported organization providing access to reliable, non-judgmental information about psychoactive plants, chemicals, and related issues. We work with academic, medical, and experiential experts to develop and publish new resources, as well as to improve and increase access to already existing resources. We also strive to ensure that these resources are maintained and preserved as a historical record for the future.

Encyclopedia of perennial cultivars

TOXLINE is a bibliographic database with an assortment of citations from specialized journals and other sources. It provides references covering the biochemical, pharmacological, physiological, and toxicological effects of drugs and other chemicals. Most of TOXLINE's bibliographic citations contain abstracts and/or indexing terms and Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) Registry Numbers.

The National Plant Germplasm System of the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains a computer database, the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), for the management of and as a source of information on its 573,520 germplasm accessions. The taxonomic portion of GRIN provides the classification and nomenclature for these genetic resources and many other economic plants on a worldwide basis.

Bioversity International, formerly the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural and tree biodiversity to attain sustainable global food and nutrition security.

The UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants is a multidisciplinary research, teaching and extension unit directed to develop environmentally sound techniques for the management of aquatic and natural area weed species and to coordinate aquatic plant research activities within the State of Florida.

The mission of the Center for Invasive Species & Ecosystem Health is to serve a lead role in development, consolidation and dissemination of information and programs focused on invasive species, forest health, natural resource and agricultural management through technology development, program implementation, training, applied research and public awareness at the state, regional, national and international levels.

The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is dedicated solely to preventing the extinction of U.S. native plants. The Center was one of the first organizations created to meet this need. The Center is a network of 39 leading botanic institutions. Founded in 1984, the Center operates the only coordinated national program of off-site (ex situ) conservation of rare plant material.

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a set of soil management practices that minimize the disruption of the soil's structure, composition and natural biodiversity. CA has proven potential to improve crop yields, while improving the long-term environmental and financial sustainability of farming.
As the body of CA literature and publications grows, the Cornell University Conservation Agriculture Group helps people to access these resources.

The Center's National Collection of Endangered Plants contains plant material for more than 700 of the country's most imperiled native plants. An important conservation resource, the Collection is a back up in case a species becomes extinct or no longer reproduces in the wild. Search the National Collection and view the plant profiles to learn more about these beautiful, imperiled plants.

As the principal federal partner responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act (ESA), we take the lead in recovering and conserving our Nation's imperiled species by fostering partnerships, employing scientific excellence, and developing a workforce of conservation leaders.

The APHIS Federal noxious weed program is designed to prevent the introduction into the United States of nonindigenous invasive plants. APHIS noxious weed activities include exclusion and permitting and (in cooperation with other agencies and state agencies) integrated management of introduced weeds, including biological control.

Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an interactive online forest monitoring and alert system designed to empower people everywhere with the information they need to better manage and conserve forest landscapes.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.

The Missouri Prairie Foundation publishes the Missouri Prairie Journal to provide the best possible information about prairie protection and restoration in the Midwest.

NatureServe is a non-profit organization that provides high-quality scientific expertise for conservation. Our dynamic and impactful data, tools, and resources help guide conservation action where it’s needed most.

The lists of New Jersey's endangered and threatened wildlife species are maintained by the Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP). These lists are used to determine protection and management actions necessary to ensure the survival of the state's endangered, threatened and other nongame wildlife.

Pest Tracker, from the National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS), publishes distribution maps for pests of agricultural and forest commodities.

The Centre provides objective, scientifically rigorous products and services to help decision makers learn about the value of biodiversity and apply this knowledge. We not only collate and verify data on biodiversity and ecosystem services but also analyse and interpret it, making the results available to our partners in accessible forms.

A collection of photos and descriptions of weeds found in New Jersey.

WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies) is an established global network of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) specialists, dedicated to sustainable land management (SLM).

On-line worldwide vegetation and distribution maps

An annotated collection of pointers to information on palaeobotany or to WWW resources which may be of use to palaeobotanists (with an Upper Triassic bias).

List synonyms and all published family and higher rank names (above generic rank), also includes the family classifications by Thorne, Cronqvist, Takhtajan, and Dahlgren

Table of Contents: Introduction, Finding Specimens, Collecting, Pressing Plants, Preserving Plants Before Drying, Drying and Sorting, Drying Systems, Sorting at MO, Mounting Notes, Packing Checklist, Recommended Reading

The Programme of Work for the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) provides guidance on how to develop capacity to generate and share taxonomic information for each thematic area and cross-cutting issue under the Convention. Taxonomic capacity-building is crucial to the success of the Convention and Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

A compilation of generic names published for organisms covered by the ICN: International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants.

ON contains the organism names related data gathered from the scientific literature for Thomson Reuters' Zoological Record® database. Viruses, bacteria and plant names will be added from other Thomson Reuters databases such as BIOSIS Previews®.

The official rules for botanical nomenclature adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011

The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) is a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes. Its goal is to eliminate the need for repeated reference to primary sources for basic bibliographic information about plant names. The data are freely available and are gradually being standardized and checked. IPNI is a dynamic resource, depending on direct contributions by all members of the botanical community.

Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project, based at The Natural History Museum, has been collating and cataloguing information on published type designations for Linnaean plant names and, where none exists, has been collaborating with specialists in designating appropriate types.

The PhyloCode is a formal set of rules governing phylogenetic nomenclature. It is designed to name the parts of the tree of life by explicit reference to phylogeny.

The Plant Atlas website incorporates standards-based data-driven internet technologies to disseminate plant information, images and distribution maps to the public.

The Plant List is a working list of all known plant species. It aims to be comprehensive for species of Vascular plant (flowering plants, conifers, ferns and their allies) and of Bryophytes (mosses and liverworts).

Find images, common names and species names for various plants.

A voucher herbarium specimen is a pressed plant sample deposited for future reference. It supports research work and may be examined to verify the identity of the specific plant used in a study.
This site, from the Florida Museum of Natural History, provides a guide for proper preparation.

A free utility for correcting and standardizing plant names

Includes lists of family and other suprageneric names, accepted, rejected, synonyms.

This taxonomic portion of this database was compiled by Jan Schlauer and includes over 3000 entries giving an exhaustive nomenclatural synopsis of all Carnivorous Plants.

The Gymnosperm Database, the web's premier source of information on conifers and their allies.

Presented by Dan Nickrent, Department of Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the Parasitic Plant Connection contains over 4000 files, 3564 of these image files of parasitic and mycoheterotrophic plants.

Get information about the instrument and about the subjects you can study through the microscope.

Find the latest news from the Botanical Society of America.
Founded in 1893, the Botanical Society of America (BSA) is a "not-for-profit" 501 (c) (3) membership society whose mission is to: promote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere.

ScienceDaily is one of the Internet’s most popular science news web sites. Since starting in 1995, the award-winning site has earned the loyalty of students, researchers, healthcare professionals, government agencies, educators and the general public around the world.