Chapter 5 Forensic Botany
Student Learning Objectives
Forensic Science: Fundamentals and Investigations, 2nd ed., Bertino & Bertino, 2015
(Although fungi, algae, and diatoms are not classified as plants, they are discussed in this chapter, as they
are often included in botanical discussions.)
At the conclusion of this chapter, the student should be able to:
General Forensic Botany
_____ 1. Define forensic botany.
_____ 2. List examples of botanical evidence found on land and in water.
_____ 3. Relate Locard's Principle of Exchange to forensic botany using specific examples.
_____ 4. Compile a list of different types of botanical evidence that can be transferred to an
automobile. Include in your answer:
a. The type of botanical evidence
b. Where in or on the car the evidence can be recovered
_____ 5. Provide arguments to support the claim that botanical evidence is often over-looked by
both suspects and crime scene investigators and therefore provides a valuable source
of evidence.
_____ 6. Explain why a forensic botanist needs to be able to
a. Identify specific plants.
b. Identify different parts of a plant.
c. Understand how and when plants grow and develop.
d. Describe how plant ecology and the relationship of plants to their environment
and to other plants are important to forensic investigations.
_____ 7. Create a list of environmental factors affecting plant growth and their ability to inhabit
different environments and relate this information to forensic botany.
_____ 8. Take images and samples of the dominant plant life found at a crime scene, object or
person.
_____ 9. Describe how a forensic botanist uses evidence photos or botanical samples to identify
a crime scene.
_____ 10. Define with examples a plant assemblage.
_____ 11. Describe how forensic botanists use plant assemblages to identify a particular
ecosystem to help locate a crime scene.
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_____ 12.Cite evidence describing how botanical evidence can provide clues regarding:
a. Where a crime was committed
b. Who was at the crime scene
c. When the crime was committed
d. Establishing a postmortem interval (time since death)
e. Determining if a body had been moved from a crime scene
f. How long a body has been buried
g. Refuting or verifying a suspect’s alibi
_____ 13. Provide examples of how forensic botanists use botanical evidence to help locate a
crime scene.
_____ 14. Describe how crime-scene investigators refer to botanical evidence to provide clues as
to the time when suspects were present at a crime scene.
_____ 15. Describe how investigators are able to locate both a recent and older gravesite based
on botanical evidence.
_____ 16. Relate the idea of ecological succession to the changes that occur when the ground is
disturbed after a grave has been dug.
_____ 17. Draw a diagram, chart, or concept map that shows the relationship of the forensic
botanist with each of the following people or groups:
(1) Meteorologist
(2) Wildlife biologists
(3) Detectives
(4) Local residents
(5)Office of missing persons
(6) Entomologists (insect specialists)
Suggested format for concept map:
a. Place the forensic botanist in the center of the diagram
b. Write the names of the people/groups around the forensic botanist
c. Draw arrows to the forensic botanist
d. Write the type of information or service each person or group supplies to the
forensic botanist on top of the arrow.
_____ 18. Explain the role of chlorophyll in evaluating plant evidence in each of the following
situations.
a. Chlorophyll is broken down in a portion of a leaf and not the entire leaf.
b. A bright green leaf is found buried one foot under the surface of a gravesite.
_____ 19. Describe the effect of temperature and humidity on the rate of decomposition of
botanical evidence and relate this to estimations of postmortem intervals.
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_____ 20. Elaborate on how estimates of postmortem intervals can be determined using each of
the following forms of botanical evidence.
a. annual rings in woody plants
b. presence or absence of chlorophyll in leaves
c. growth of plant life found in or near skeletal remains
d. presence or absence of plants and plant parts in gravesites:
_____ 21. Apply information regarding environmental factors when estimating growth and
decomposition rates.
_____ 22. Elaborate on why an autopsy procedure includes the analysis of the gastric contents of
the body. Include in your answer:
a. Structure of plant cell walls
b. The ability of plant cells walls to withstand chemical and physical digestion
c. Where in the digestive tract plant evidence can be recovered
d. How the "last meal" of the victim can be used to provide additional
information about a crime
_____ 23. Evaluate the following statement. "Only forensic botanists who live in the area of a
crime scene can evaluate botanical evidence." Do you agree or disagree with this
statement? Cite evidence to support your claim.
_____ 24. Compare and contrast the role of a forensic botanist to the crime-scene investigator.
Crime Scene and Botanical Evidence
_____ 25. List the information that must be documented about a crime scene.
_____ 26. Describe the type of photos that should be taken of any crime scene that will help
establish the location of the crime scene.
_____ 27. Justify why a habitat sampling should be taken at a crime scene.
_____ 28. Distinguish between the collection of habitat samples taken from a crime scene and
the collection of botanical evidence that pertains to the crime.
_____ 29. Describe how searches are conducted to locate evidence.
_____ 30. Distinguish between a datum point and a subdatum point.
_____ 31. Outline the procedure for setting up the collection limits around a crime scene for the
purpose of collecting, documenting, and mapping evidence.
_____ 32. Provide an example of how the recorder and the photographer work together when
processing a crime scene.
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_____ 33. Describe the types of photos that need to be taken of any botanical evidence.
_____ 34. Justify why the photographer needs to take the following photos of evidence.
a. In-situ distant photo
b. In-situ close-up photo
c. In the collection paper with a label indicating the case number, evidence
number, and the name of the collector
d. With and without rulers
_____ 35. List the different types of botanical evidence that should be collected at a crime scene.
_____ 36. Describe how the location of each piece of evidence is documented using:
a. Photos
e. Tape measurer
b. Evidence markers or flags
f. Compass
c. Datum points
g. Recorder
d. Subdatum points
_____ 37. Summarize how to collect each of the following types of botanical evidence:
a. Samples of trees, bushes or shrubs
e. Fruits
b. Long vines or ground cover
f. Fungi
c. Leaves
g. Broken branches and stems
d. Flowers
_____ 38. List the information that must be recorded on any evidence label.
_____ 39. Justify the statement that the proper chain of custody must be maintained if the
evidence is to be admitted. Include in your answer:
a. What is the chain of custody?
b. What information is recorded on the chain of custody?
c. How is evidence handled and recorded to ensure proper chain of custody?
_____ 40. Analyze and process a crime scene for botanical evidence.
Botany-Specific Objectives:
Diatoms, Annual Rings
_____ 41. Describe the habitat and the microscopic structure of diatoms.
_____ 42. List places where diatom evidence can be recovered from either the victim, the crime
scene, or objects at the crime scene.
_____ 43. Summarize why diatoms can be useful evidence in cases involving drowning victims.
Include in your answer:
a. Structure of diatoms
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b. Habitat of diatoms
c. Where diatom evidence is obtained in a victim
_____ 44. Compare and contrast the annual growth of woody plants found in the spring
growth and summer growth.
_____ 45. Explain using a sketch of why it's possible to see annual rings in woody plants.
_____46. Apply the use of annual rings to solving a crime citing a specific example of how
annual rings provided evidence.
_____ 47. Discuss two different types of wood evidence used that lead to the conviction of
Bruno Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping case.
Angiosperms and Gymnosperms; Pollen and Spore Forensic Evidence
_____ 48.Define forensic palynology.
_____ 49. Explain why pollen is such a good source of forensic evidence.
_____ 50. Provide an example and explanation of how pollen can help:
a. Determine what season a crime was committed.
b. Determine where a crime was committed.
c. Determine if the body was moved
d. Determine who was at the crime scene
_____ 51. Design a procedure for taking a pollen fingerprint and explain the type of
information gained by doing so.
_____ 52. Explain how it is possible to take a pollen fingerprint from an area and get a different
pollen fingerprint from that same area a week later.
_____ 53. Describe the role of each of the following instruments in the study of forensic botany:
a. Stereomicroscope
b. Compound microscope
_____ 54. Outline the procedure for making a permanent slide of pollen is made in the
laboratory.
_____ 55. Given different pollen samples, describe how to match a particular pollen grain with a
specific flower.
_____ 56. List other places that pollen can be collected as evidence other than on a person or
animal.
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_____ 57. Outline how pollen evidence is collected, documented, and analyzed. Include in your
answer:
a. What equipment is used to collect the pollen or spores
b. How to package the spores or pollen
c. What information should appear on the evidence inventory label
d. What type of photos should be taken
e. How pollen is analyzed both microscopically and chemically
Biology of Flowers and Pollen
_____ 58. Describe another group of plants that produces pollen other than angiosperms.
_____ 59. Explain why flowers are considered to be reproductive organs.
_____ 60.Compare and contrast reproduction in angiosperms and gymnosperms.
_____ 61. Describe the structure and variations of pollen grains.
_____ 62. Relate the thick-walled structure of a pollen grain to its function and how this thick
wall is a benefit for forensic botany.
_____ 63. Describe the function of pollen.
_____ 64. Draw a simple flower that shows all the major reproductive parts listed below. Label
the reproductive parts of the flower. Describe the functions of each.
a. Stamen
f. Ovary
b. Anther
g. Ovule
c. Filament
h. Petal
d. Stigma
i. Pollen
e. Style
_____ 65. Distinguish between the processes of pollination and fertilization.
_____ 66. Arrange the following terms in the correct order:
a. Seed development
d. Fertilization
b. Pollination
e. Pollen tube formation
c. Fruit development
_____ 67. For each of the terms below, be able to state which process occurs first:
a. Pollination and fertilization
b. Fertilization and pollen tube development
c. Pollination and seed development
_____ 68. Compare and contrast cross pollination with self-pollination. Include in your answer:
a. The number of plants involved
b. The relative number of pollen grains produced
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_____ 69. Compare and contrast pollen that is pollinated by animals with pollen that is pollinated
by wind. Include in your answer:
a. Structure of the pollen grain
b. Thickness of the pollen grain
c. Which pollen is more likely to be collected at a crime scene
_____70. Summarize the different methods of pollination in plants and the relevance in solving
crimes.
_____ 71. Distinguish between spores and pollen in terms of
a. organisms that produce them c. structure
b. size
d. genetic content
_____ 72. List examples of organisms that produce spores.
_____ 73. Discuss the different ways that spores are dispersed.
_____ 74. Provide an example of a situation where spores could be useful in solving a crime.
Bacterial Endospores (Bacteria are not plants, however, like plants, they do produce spores)
_____ 75. Discuss the formation of endospores in bacteria.
a. When are they formed?
b. Why are they formed?
c. How do these differ from fungal spores?
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