When the botanist can't draw: the case of Linnaeus

Reeds, Karen

doi:10.1179/030801804225018882

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…336-337, 406-407;Raven, 1986;Richard and Lindley, 1819; Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1811a). Linnaeus, however, was an exception (Reeds, 2004). 20 Henrey, 1975, as compared with any of the works of John Ray, Linnaeus, or Lamarck. facilitating identification.…”

Section: Constraints On Publishing Illustrated Workmentioning

confidence: 81%

Identification Keys, the “Natural Method,” and the Development of Plant Identification Manuals

Scharf

2008

J Hist Biol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The origins of field guides and other plant identification manuals have been poorly understood until now because little attention has been paid to 18th century botanical identification guides. Identification manuals came to have the format we continue to use today when botanical instructors in post-Revolutionary France combined identification keys (step-wise analyses focusing on distinctions between plants) with the "natural method" (clustering of similar plants, allowing for identification by gestalt) and alphabetical indexes. Botanical works featuring multiple but linked techniques to enable plant identification became very popular in France by the first decade of the 19th century. British botanists, however, continued to use Linnaeus's sexual system almost exclusively for another two decades. Their reluctance to use other methods or systems of classification can be attributed to a culture suspicious of innovation, anti-French sentiment and the association of all things Linnaean with English national pride, fostered in particular by the President of the Linnean Society of London, Sir James Edward Smith. The British aversion to using multiple plant identification technologies in one text also helps explain why it took so long for English botanists to adopt the natural method, even after several Englishmen had tried to introduce it to their country. Historians of ornithology emphasize that the popularity of ornithological guides in the 19th and 20th centuries stems from their illustrations, illustrations made possible by printing technologies that improved illustration quality and reduced costs. Though illustrations are the most obvious features of late 19th century and 20th century guides, the organizational principles that make them functional as identification devices come from techniques developed in botanical works in the 18th century.

show abstract

Section: Constraints On Publishing Illustrated Workmentioning

confidence: 81%

Identification Keys, the “Natural Method,” and the Development of Plant Identification Manuals

Scharf

2008

J Hist Biol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Traditionally, plant drawing has been one of the basic tools used to train natural scientists to understand the morphology and identification of plants (Blunt and Stearn, 1994;Reeds, 2004;Sanders, 2007). The positive role of plant drawing as a vehicle to observe, explore, and understand plants has been documented in recent studies.…”

Section: Plant Drawing and Pro-environmental Behavioral Intentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditionally, especially in the biological research fields, drawing of living plants has been widely recognized as a method that enables learning of the taxonomy and morphology of plants (Reeds, 2004;Sanders, 2007). In particular, meticulous observational-investigative freehand drawing of a plant specimen has been identified as an essential learning tool for describing, interpreting, and identifying the natural world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study on the Plant Sketching Practice for the Enhancement of People’s Intention for Pro-Environmental Behavior

Kim

2024

J. People Plants Environ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and objective: Many scholars agree that the key to mitigating the environmental crisis lies in altering human behavior. To better understand this linkage, it is crucial to identify the psychological determinants of one's pro-environmental behavioral intention (PEB) and examine the process through which such behavior is generated. This study focuses on one such process, drawing of plants. We test whether visually representing plants by engaging in freehand drawing would influence actual behavioral intentions to improve the quality of our environment and whether this association is mediated by the key environment-psychological factors (attitude toward plants and affection to the natural environment).Methods: To answer this question, we conducted a quasi-experiment with 235 students from selected colleges in Seoul by dividing them into control and treatment groups. The control group participated in regular outdoor activities during a field trip while the treatment group engaged in drawing of plants during the trip. Survey answers and drawings were analyzed to examine the effect of plant drawing practice on PEB and the mediative role of the psychological constructs.Results: Our T-test and the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) test revealed the following findings: (1) Engaging in plant drawing practice is more effective in developing positive attitudes toward plants and affection to the natural environment than engaging only in normative outdoor experience. (2) Analytical-observational drawings are influential to PEB by mediating through plant attitude, and expressive-subjective drawings are influential to PEB by mediating through environmental affect. (3) Gender was a critical factor in determining plant attitude, environmental attitude, and PEB.Conclusion: In sum, the findings suggest that plant drawing experience has a significant impact on developing PEB, and thus, it can be an effective means to foster a biospheric mindset as well as nature-protective behavior.

show abstract