botanical terms Archives

Comparing Common and Japanese Hops

Posted on 16th October 202016th October 2020 in Botany: Telling species apart

A recent job involved highlighting differences between the Japanese hop Humulus japonicus, and the Common hop Humulus lupulus. Sketchbook study of the Common hop Overview of Hop plants Hops are members of the Cannabaceae family, and are native to the Northern hemisphere. There are three species of hop, and any number of varieties of the Common […] Read more

Comparing Goldenrod Species

Posted on 28th August 202028th August 2020 in Botany: Telling species apart

Comparing Goldenrod species was one of my tasks in a recent commission for a Horticultural company in Sweden. All the illustrations were sketchbook studies. Every plant was an invasive. Overview of Canadian Goldenrod Solidago canadensis and Early Goldenrod Solidago gigantea The focus of the illustration is the Canadian goldenrod. Most Goldenrods are native to the […] Read more

Flower Shapes: Terminology

Posted on 1st February 2019 in botanical terms

There are a whole load of different botanical terms used to describe flower shapes. In this blog, I’ll go through a few, explaining what the term means. Ill try to find one of my botanical illustrations to demonstrate each shape. Could be a challenge! This chart of flowers of walks and the wayside shows a […] Read more

Grass: An introduction

Posted on 7th June 201814th January 2019 in botanical terms

Grasses (Poaceae) are one of my favourite botanical illustration subjects. I adore drawing and painting them. I have written a blog on my passion for this family of plants before. However, I wanted to take another look at the way grasses are put together. I also want to introduce beginners to basic grass anatomy and terminology. This […] Read more

Flower Anatomy workshop

Posted on 1st September 20179th January 2019 in Painting workshops

Why learn botany? I recently taught a workshop at the wonderful Walled Garden in Treberfydd on flower anatomy. I think it’s vital for botanical illustrations to be well-informed about their subject matter. To this end I think botanical illustrators need to learn some of the basics of how flowering plants are put together. One of the best […] Read more

Botany Terms: The basics

Posted on 18th September 20143rd December 2018 in Biological terminology: Definitions

If you’re going to illustrate botany or natural history specimens, you need to know what you’re drawing. Biology provides words for almost every part of an animal or plant. Although sometimes these terms sound intimidating (many have latin roots so sound unfamiliar) they don’t need to put you off. Introduction to botany terms This blog […] Read more

Botanical Illustration: the achene

Posted on 2nd May 20143rd December 2018 in botanical terms

Natural science illustration and natural history illustration need you to understand what your subject looks like, and he correct words needed to describe it. Last week my blog was about fruit type definitions, inspired by some work I did for Rodale’s 21st Century Herbal by Michael Balick. Whilst getting my head around the terminology of fruit types, I […] Read more

Botanical terms for fruit types

Posted on 25th April 201430th November 2018 in botanical terms

Botanical and scientific illustration requires biological knowledge, and this is certainly true when it comes to painting botanical diagrams. I recently did some illustrations for Rodale’s 21st Century Herbal by Michael Balick. One of these was a diagram of fruit types. Sources of information on Fruit type This got me thinking about how little I knew […] Read more

Grass, botanical illustration, sciart, graminaceae, grasses

Glorious grasses

Posted on 21st June 201315th November 2018 in botanical terms

I have always loved grasses. Even as a child I marvelled at their different heights, shapes, and textures. I love the way fields of grass move and rustle in the wind, and I love the smell of new mown grass (it’s caused by green leaf volatiles (GLVs) and is actually a distress call from the […] Read more