Forensic botany is similar in its role to that of DNA fingerprinting. Plant material found at the scene of a crime can often be successfully linked to the perpetrator of the crime or can help to rule out a suspect in a crime. Just as fingerprints are unique to individuals, plant material is often unique to certain ecological areas or plant species.
How Plants Help to Solve Crimes
Forensic botany is complex. Plant remains are found in a wide variety of places. Examples of plant material used in forensic botany include seeds, leaves, flowers, fruits, twigs, charcoal, wood, pollen, spores, plant cells in stomach contents, plant hairs and glandular hairs. Some types of botanical evidence are extremely small, such as microscopic spores and pollen. In addition, the ecological and molecular restraints of various plant species allow a forensic botanist to narrow down the possibilities of where a crime was committed, when it was committed and who committed the crime.
Forensic Botany and the Kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr
Forensic botany has only recently been accepted by the legal system for its use and validity in prosecuting criminal cases. The most famously cited criminal case in which forensic botany was used and accepted as evidence is the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr in 1935. The conviction and final electrocution of the suspect Bruno Richard Hauptmann was successful largely due to the botanical forensics presented at the trial.
Dr Arthur Koehler, who worked for the Forest Products Laboratory at the United States Forest Service, successfully testified for the prosecution that wood from the kidnapper's ladder matched a piece of flooring cut from the kidnapper's attic by identifying the plant species, tool marks left on the wood and the structural pattern of the wood. Dr Koehler confirmed that the ladder was made from birch, Douglas fir and two types of pine and even traced some of the pine back to its original source.
Forensic Botany in Popular Culture
Today, forensic botany is starting to grow in popularity and acceptance, partly due to the use of forensic science in solving crimes on T.V. shows such as Criminal Minds, CSI and Law and Order. These shows have shown elements of forensic botany in the solving of complicated crimes that have resulted in confirming the placement of a suspect at a particular place in time. In real life, courts are beginning to accept the validity of forensic botany too.
Careers in Forensic Botany
A forensic botanist requires a vast knowledge in the field of botany and/or biology including expertise in plant science sub-disciplines such as anatomy, ecology, systematics, molecular biology and plant chemistry. Forensic botanists need to have a minimum of an undergraduate degree in botany or biology. On graduation, a forensic botanist can apply for a job with such agencies as the FBI and the DEA, in addition to university positions and positions in the private sector.
References:
- American Society of Plant Taxonomists web site, Forensics, accessed August 2, 2010
- Forensic Botany web site, accessed August 2, 2010
- Botanical Society of America web site, Forensic Botany by Dr Shirley Graham, accessed August 2, 2010
Sharon Falsetto - Sharon Falsetto is a business owner, certified clinical aromatherapist & professional writer with a life-long interest in plants.
