Lab Reflection 1/31

Our field trip to the Missouri Botanical Garden Archive was very informative. We learned so much new information about plant cataloging, and gained a better understanding as to what goes on behind the scenes at the garden. The documents were different than I had imagined. They are on normal pieces of paper and the plants are held on to the paper using tape, glue and even dental floss. Additionally, most, if not all, have barcodes on them which may lead the viewer to the tropicos database. Each plant contains a text that may include different things. For example, it can give a description or not depending on who found the species, and additionally the area, family, genes, and locality. The catalogs are not comprehensive, they are simply snapshots of that specific time according to that botanist. If that botanist chooses to have a description with their plant, they may interview a local to figure out the uses and other details about the plant. However, this can show biases because they only show one point of view of the interviewee. This means that the overall voices of the culture may be silenced. This results in the botanist having the loudest voices within the catalogs because they have the total freedom and power to pick and choose details that they think need to be with the plant. We can relate this information to our research team because the cultures involve some indigenous knowledge (or lack thereof). We can use these catalogs as building blocks in order to fill in gaps with future information. With all the information we learned during our visit, I believe that in order to fill in the culture aspect of the plants, the botanists need to interview multiple different people within the culture, in order to represent it respectively and fully. In conclusion, our time at MOBOT was very helpful and informative in relation to our theme within our research team.