Botany 2014

Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
1



Biology 2P93
Rules of Botanical Drawing
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Preparation of Botanical Drawings

The purpose of a botanical drawing is to make an accurate,
systematic and informative account of a specimen or a
histological slide
The preparation of such a drawing provokes critical
examination of the material, provides a permanent record
for future reference and serves as a study guide for the
exams
Artistic talent is not necessary; developing your skills of
observation and drawing what you see following the
guidelines outlined below can accomplish a good drawing
The tools you need are, a sharp pencil, an eraser and a
ruler






Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss






Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Morphological Drawings

All histology slides provided are to be drawn with the naked eye, with no
tracing.

To enhance drawing clarity each must be at least 10 cm x 10 cm and
include enough material to characterize a particular plant slide.

Drawings should be positioned slightly to the left of the page and
whenever possible the long axis of the specimen should be drawn
vertically on the page to accommodate labels.

Sketches of plants are not acceptable, it is important that the ends of
lines do not overlap and gaps do not appear where, in fact lines join.

Stippling but not shading is permissible.

Captions must accompany each drawing and the rules regarding correct
labelling are to be followed for every submission.
Tissue and Cellular Drawings

Lightly draw an outline of the specimen or part of the
specimen equal to an area at least 10 cm x 10 cm. Make a
tissue diagram of the internal structures so you achieve a
drawing of the outline of the tissue leaving out the individual
cells
With broken lines designate an area of the drawing that will
include the structure and tissues to be drawn in detail. It is
important to include an area large enough to provide
information about the super-structure of the specimen
Brackets and labels should be included within the broken lines
Drawing a partial section saves time

Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Tissue and Cellular Drawing Partial Section
Eaton, 2013

Tissue and Cellular Drawings
Now draw individual cells, giving special attention to shapes
of and relative sizes of cells, as well as the thickness of the
cell wall
Avoid producing sketchy lines that do not meet or lines that
overlap at the ends
In your drawings one of the objects is to relate form and
function
Figuratively speaking, in cells drawn with large gaps,
cytoplasm and other organelles could not be contained

Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Tissue and Cellular Drawings

If in doubt as to what your drawing should look like, check
out some of the other hand drawn illustrations in this
presentation

To highlight cellular inclusions, to give the effect of depth, or
to indicate different color densities, always stipple, DO NOT
SHADE

Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Tissue and Cellular Drawings

Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Eaton, 2013
Captions

All drawings must include a caption or a description of what
has been drawn on the upper right hand corner of the
diagram
It should include:
Taxonomic Phylum
Genus and species
Title
Aspect




Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Caption example
On the upper right hand corner of the diagram

Phylum: Psilotophyta
Genus and species: Psilotum nudum (Note that the genus
is always capitalized. Note that genus and species are
either underlined or italicized. If the species is unknown the
caption would read Psilotum sp.)
Title: Aerial Stem (so what you have drawn)
Aspect: either longitudinal section (l.s) or cross section
(x.s), or perhaps morphological if you are drawing an actual
physical depiction of a plant
Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss

Labels

List the labels required for your drawings on a separate
paper for placement later
Your ability to distinguish between important and
extraneous material will in part, determine your marks
This means that some drawings will be adequate with a few
labels and others will require more
Before labeling place a light line just to the right of the
drawing to insure the alignment of label lines. (Erase the
guideline before submission)
Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Labels
All labels and label lines should be parallel to the bottom of
the page and to the right of the diagram no matter what you
see in your text. On the left the label line must terminate in
or on the structure

Structures and regions of cells, either with the same cell
type or a different cell type should be bracketed. Individual
cells within the bracket should not be labeled. Label these
cells elsewhere in the diagram


Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss

Labels


Do not label the same structure twice and dont use one
label line to indicate two similar structures or cells.

Do not cross label or bracket lines.

Do not use color or ink on drawings, only pencil

Following this slide is an example of a previous drawing
with proper label lines (sorry took the label offgroan)
on the right hand side of the drawing, lines go right into
the structure, and all lines are aligned directly one
under the next

Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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Lovely label lines
A lovely caption, upper right hand corner of page
Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
Happy Drawing!
Botany 2014
Susan Jonsson-Ninniss
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