Botany Subject Guide

This subject guide covers botany resources available at the Johnston Memorial Library, including full-text journals, magazine, and newspaper articles,  botany websites, and printed materials in the Reference Collection. This is not a comprehensive subject guide, but rather a selective list of materials that are most useful for locating information in this field. Library location and call  number are provided for print publications. 
 
 

Full-Text Databases

  • HighWire Press. A collection of over 70 journals covering topics including botany, physiology, psychiatry, chemistry, pharmacology, genetics, microbiology and neuroscience. Archives of many titles are also available.
  • InfoTrac OneFile. A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: botany business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles many with images. Updated daily.
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Journal Indexes and Abstracts.

  • AGRICOLA. AGRICOLA is a bibliographic database consisting of literature citations for journal articles, monographs, proceedings, theses, patents, and technical reports pertaining to all aspects of agriculture. Covers 1979 to present and is updated monthly.
  • Biological Abstracts. An index with abstracts to periodicals in biology and the life sciences worldwide.

  • Biological Sciences. Abstracts and citations to a wide range of research in biomedicine, biotechnology, botany, zoology and much more.
  • Biology Digest. Abstracts and indexes domestic and international literature in the area of life sciences.
  • Plant Science. Citations and abstracts of scientific literature on plant science, focusing on all plant scientific aspects, especially on pathology, symbiosis, biochemistry, genetics, biotechnology, techniques, and environmental biology.
  • Plants Database. The PLANTS Database is a single source of standardized information about plants. It includes names, checklists, automated tools, identification information, species abstracts, crop information, plant materials information, plant links, references and other plant information.


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Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

  • Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms. by Michael Hickey. Cambridge University Press, 2000. The purpose of this reference source is to provide a well illustrated glossary that includes all the terms most commonly used in describing vascular plants. Location: Reference Collection, First Floor, Call Number: REF QK10.H53.
  • Concise Oxford Dictionary of Botany. by Michael Allaby. Oxford University Press, 1992. This dictionary contains many very short entries sometimes of only two or three words. Other entries are longer, going beyond the simple definition to describe complex biological processes as succinctly as is practicable. Location: Reference Collection, First Floor, Call Number: REF QK9.C67.
  • Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. by James G. Harris. Spring Lake Publishing, 1994. This book of phytography, the descriptive terminology of plants. It provides a comprehensive, illustrated guide to the terminology of systematic botany. Location: Reference Collection, First Floor, Call Number: REF QK9.H37.
  • Plants and Their Names. by R, Hyan. Oxford University Press, 1995. The aim of this dictionary is to provide the non-specialist with a reference source to some 16,000 of the more commonly occurring vernacular and latin names. Location: Reference Collection, First Floor, Call Number: REF QK96.P35.


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Internet Websites

  • BONAP U.S. Checklist. The BONAP Synonymized Checklist is more than a typical checklist. It is a database, offering multiple layers of vascular flora information at several different taxonomic levels. Once inside the database, users can drill down to distribution maps of the selected family, genus, or species. In many cases, species images accompany distribution maps through links to the Vascular Plant Image Gallery.
  • Botany Encyclopedia of Plants and Botanical Dictionary. Gardening resource providing information about cultivation, propagation, varieties and hybrids. Features material on annuals, bulbs, succulents, fruit, grass, water plants, herbs, spices, houseplants, perennials, shrubs, bushes, trees, vegetables, vines, crawlers and wild flowers. Also includes a dictionary of botanical words, links to botanical gardens, associations, and societies.
  • Botany: Guide to Internet Resources. This guide contains links to, and information about, major botanical resources on the Internet. The primary aim is to provide direct access to research related information. A number of botany resources are brought together to enable further exploration.
  • BUBL Link/5:15 (Botany). BUBL is the name of a catalogue of selected internet resources covering all academic subject areas. The aim of the project is to make it very easy to locate internet information about a large number of subjects.
  • Electronic Sites of Leading Botany, Plant Biology and Science Journals. These are links to journals in which articles concerning plant biology are published. The sites will almost always have a Tables of Contents available free and may frequently have selected articles, or the entire text online. Some sites are free; others require registration or paid subscriptions.
  • Grin Taxonomy. GRIN taxonomic data provide the structure and nomenclature for accessions of the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). In GRIN TAXONOMY all families and genera of vascular plants and over 40,000 species from throughout the world are represented, especially economic plants and their relatives. Information on scientific and common names, classification, distribution, references, and economic impacts are provided.
  • National Plant Germplasm System. NPGS is a cooperative effort by public (State and Federal) and private organizations to preserve the genetic diversity of plants.
  • The Parasitic Plant Connection. Created by Dan Nickrent of the Department of Plant Biology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, this site offers a wealth of information on parasitic plants. Plants are organized by family, with distribution maps, descriptions, photos, lists of genera, bibliographic references, and DNA sequence information. Additional resources at the site include contact information for parasitic plant specialists, a list of terms associated with parasitic plants, and related links.


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ŠVSU Library and Media Services, 11-09-04.
Gloria Beck, Government Documents Librarian.