July 26, 2019
Am I a botanist?
I was on a walk recently with a number of other plant enthusiasts,
and this question came up (I introduced it).
The following is mostly tongue and cheek, but you may call yourself
a botanist if you answer "yes" to two or more of the following.
- Do you publish papers about plants in scientific journals?
- Do you know many of the plants in your area by their binomial names?
- Have you ever taken a college level class in botany?
- Do you have trouble fitting all your plant books on one bookshelf?
- Do you own one or more "flora", i.e. books with keys to identify plants?
- Are you able to use those books to identify plants?
- Are you always annoying companions on hikes by telling them the names of plants?
- Do you take pictures of plants on a regular or systematic basis?
- Are you unable to sleep at night because you could not identify a plant?
I really boils down to whether you love plants and if they are a significant
aspect of your life. It could be some sort of badge of honor that lets you
feel better than other people, but that would be petty and obnoxious.
Have any comments? Questions?
Drop me a line!
Tom's Plant pages / tom@mmto.org