The Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) provides a bounty of biological and taxonomic information regarding Australian plant and fungi species. Acting as a clearinghouse for online information about plants and fungi, ABRS connects to such resources as the Flora of Australia Online, Checklist of Australian Lichens, Interactive Catalogue of Australian Fungi, Census of Freshwater Algae in...

Visitors to this expansive website would be wise to check out the "About Us" section to learn the complete definition of what herbaria briefly: "collections of preserved plant and fungal specimens and their associated data...concerned primarily with scientific research and documenting the vast diversity of plant and fungal life." The "About Us" section also explains how specimens are used and...

Are you fascinated by fascia? Might you find silica scintillating? Look no further gentle reader as Bentham Open Access can provide information about these topics. Bentham Publishers recently launched over 200 peer-reviewed open access journals, and visitors should feel free to browse around at their leisure. Visitors can browse titles by discipline, and everything from agriculture to virology...

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) “is a consortium of natural history and botanical libraries that cooperate to digitize and make accessible the legacy literature of biodiversity held in their collections.” Partnering with the Internet Archive, these wonderful items have been brought together for consideration by the general public. All told, there are over 79,000 items in this collection...

For anyone interested in culinary history, the Biodiversity Heritage Library for Europe offers this interesting exhibition about spices. The exhibition features an alphabetized glossary of dozens of spices, from Ajwain (a strong, thyme-like spice grown in India and a number of Middle Eastern countries that can be used to season lentils) to Zedoary (a spice originally from India and Indonesia that,...

Introducing students to different software packages and applications for use in biology and math courses can be quite a challenge. With that in mind, teachers in these areas will definitely appreciate this rather helpful site from the people at the Mathematical Sciences Digital Library. These particular simulations and tools draw heavily on Microsoft Excel, so users will need to make sure that...

Would you care if someone called a cat a mouse in the description of a medieval painting? What if books on plants were illustrated with the wrong plants? Botanical errors can be just as egregious as those involving art history, foodstuffs and other products. This delightful website looks at botanical mistakes in commercial and public venues and offers up educational information and commentary on...

In the library section of their website, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University shows off their digitized collection of eastern Asian photographs taken by plant explorers and collectors from the early 20th century. Visitors can view a gallery of each explorer's images. Users can also search the image database by photographer, subject or plant name.

Ethnobotany is the study of how people and cultures interact with plants and the natural environment. This website by Botanical Dimensions, a leading non-profit in the field, provides an overview of ethnobotany, its tools, knowledge, and context. After perusing the Homepage, readers will want to turn to the Ethnobotany section for a helpful explication of the discipline. Next, click the Projects...

Founded in 1893, the membership of the Botanical Society of America now includes scientists from around the world. The organization's website includes a number of excellent resources for plant lovers. For instance, selecting the Botany Conference area opens a draw down bar with abstracts from 15 years of presentations, programs, and conference sessions. The News section includes frequently posted...