Plant Identification

by Anna Lawrence

  In the end, you may have to make a judgement about who is right. If respondents cannot agree (which is unusual), you can do several things:

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  You may feel the range of opinions is interesting in itself, particularly if there is a pattern, such as women mentioning one use and men mentioning another; in this case, you can include the various uses in the guide, with information about who provided the information.

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  If there is an alternative way to verify the information, such as direct observation, do it. For example, if local informants give varying opinions about the habitat of a particular palm, it may well be that they have in mind two different palm species with similar names. Such confusion can be easily cleared up by asking the informants to accompany you to specimens of the tree growing in its natural habitat.

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  Try to work out whether there might be a reason why people are giving you inaccurate information – is there confusion over the species name? Do villagers suspect that you are going to steal their traditional knowledge? Try to address these concerns.

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  BOX 7.8 CRITERIA FOR TRUSTWORTHINESS

  Criteria for trustworthiness, adapted from Pretty et al (1995), that are relevant in producing a field guide are as follows:

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  Know the informants well through prolonged and/or intense engagement with them in order to build trust and rapport.

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  Persistent and parallel observation: keep your eyes open and check that what people tell you matches what you see.

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  Triangulation by multiple sources, methods and investigators: broadly speaking, this means using at least three sources or three methods or three different interviewers to cross-check information, increasing the range of different people’s realities.

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  Peer or colleague checking: this involves periodical review meetings with peers not directly involved in the enquiry process.

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  Participant checking: this entails testing the data, interpretations and conclusions with people with whom the original information was constructed and analysed.

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  Parallel investigations and team communications: if sub-groups of the same team proceed with investigations, in parallel, using the same approach, and come up with the same or similar findings, then these findings are more trustworthy.

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  Enquiry audit: the enquiry team should be able to provide sufficient information for an external person to examine the processes and product in such a way as to confirm that the findings are not a figment of their imaginations.

  Whatever steps you take to ensure that your information is correct and valid, it is helpful to document the processes and explain them in the introduction to your field guide so that the reader can understand the basis for trusting the content of the guide.

  WRITING

  Collecting the information is only half of the process; it must also be assembled into clear, easily understood text. Start to write as early in the process as possible, even before you have all the information you need for each species. It can easily take several hours to write a description for a species, and sometimes much longer for guides at the botanical end of the spectrum (see Case study 7.3). Authors often underestimate the difficulties of writing clearly for other types of readers, and it is advisable to start with a species that you know well to help you find out what the challenges might be. The process of putting together species descriptions can also help to finally decide which species are to be included, and whether aspects of the guide need to be redefined.

  It is the written parts of the text that require most checking and testing because it is through written language that humans experience most differences of style and meaning.

  Authors therefore need time to check the accuracy of the content and to test comprehension of the text.

  Several aspects of language need to be taken into account – not only the dialect and local or national language to be used, but also the choice of technical or non-technical terms. Guides that are produced with and for indigenous peoples may be written in languages which have only recently been documented, or for which the phonetic rules

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  (the relationship between the spoken sound and the written spelling) have recently been changed. In such cases, it is important to consult an expert in that language and to take particular care when testing that the users have really understood your meaning. In other cases, you might think about the message that your choice of language will send to the reader. The eco-tourist guide for Rio de Contas described in Box 2.1 was written in Portuguese and English, attracting a range of visitors to the area; the Flora da Reserva Ducke is written solely in Portuguese, making it accessible to botanists from countries across Latin America and motivating students to identify species for themselves.

  In addition to the main language of the guide, it is common to include the vernacular or local language names of each species, often in a range of local languages and dialects (see Chapter 4 for more nomenclature).

  Writing well

  Some principles of clear writing apply widely, regardless of the education or interests of the reader. Obviously, technical words have their uses; but they are not necessary as often as is thought. Using short and familiar words is a skill that many technical and academic writers could refine. The advice of the Plain English Campaign applies to all languages (see Box 7.9). In the end, the best way to proceed is to find an example that works for your target audience (through the consultations at planning stage – see Chapter 3), analyse it and try to write in the same style, and finally test it before publishing the guide (see Chapter 9).

  Formatting and layout of text

  Experiment with different models for setting out the information on the page. Take into consideration:

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  font;

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  size;

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  spacing;

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  number of columns of text;

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  heading and subheadings – number, format (bold, italics or underlined), as well as spacing around them. (Headings help to break up the page and affect the understanding of the material. Consider which word is the most prominent on the page –

  this forms part of the access system – see Chapter 5 – as it is the word that people will see when leafing through the guide. In many guides this will be the species name in its version that is most relevant to the user group.); and

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  mixing of text and illustrations (using pictures and diagrams to break up the text helps to make it more accessible to people who are not used to reading).

  The authors should have a good idea of the users’ preferences from the consultations at the planning stage (see Chapter 3). However, it is always necessary to test again at this stage by comparing different formats for comprehensibility.

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  BOX 7.9 ADVICE ON WRITING WELL

  Advice on writing clearly and simply is provided by the Plain English Campaign (see www.plainenglish.co.uk/). Wherever possible:

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  Use short words.

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  Use everyday English; avoid jargon and explain

  any technical terms that you have to use.

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  Make sure that sentences have no more than 20 words.

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  Do not include several ideas in one sentence.

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  Use active verbs rather than passive verbs (for example,

  ‘the local people use this plant to cure stomach pains’ is preferable to ‘this plant is used by the local people to cure stomach pains’).

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  While writing, imagine how you would talk to the reader; use a sincere, straightforward style.

  Writing a species description

  The species description is the botanical pa
rt of the guide, and you will need to be familiar with Chapters 4 and 6 before you can embark on this. However, while botanists are trained to write complete and detailed botanical descriptions that are perfectly comprehensible to other botanists, this art form is not so accessible to users from other backgrounds, and it is in writing and testing the botanical description that most care will be needed not to resort to technical language. As Jorge Costa points out in Case study 7.3, describing the key characteristics of a species in layman’s language can often take more space than using the carefully defined specialist terms of botanical language, and it may be more feasible to use some technical terms in the text which are clearly defined in a glossary.

  If you take this route, though, it is especially important to check that your intended user group can understand how to use the glossary to look up the meaning of a technical term and, furthermore, that they can actually understand the definitions given there. The Brazilian team producing the guide described in Case study 7.3 also produced the much simpler guide to 21 leguminous species based on the questionnaire in Case Study 7.1, to be used by communities and outreach workers in the Caatinga. They were surprised by the difficulties of writing a glossary. However, because they applied a careful and rigorous testing procedure, they discovered in good time that the users could not understand the definitions, and they rewrote it twice before they could be sure that it was acceptable.

  Structuring the species descriptions should be relatively easy because the template has already been defined by the initial consultations with users and by the plan for information-gathering. However, because the data-gathering process can be iterative, and can help you to redefine the content of each species description, species descriptions may turn out to be structured a little differently from, for example, your questionnaire.

  Writing other sections of the guide

  Apart from the species descriptions themselves, there are, of course, other essential parts of the guide to be written. The introduction to the guide might be the most important

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  CASE STUDY 7.3 EXPERIENCE OF WRITING SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS FOR

  NATURALISTS’ GUIDE TO LEGUMES OF THE CAATINGA

  (DE QUEIROZ ET AL, FORTHCOMING)

  In the text below, Jorge Costa describes the steps involved in the lengthy process of producing 250 species descriptions in a field guide intended for naturalists – in other words, for users with some education in biology, but no familiarity with the details of botanical jargon or classification. This example illustrates the need to plan carefully and to be quite systematic in gathering and presenting the information. It also shows how a number of different people may be needed to carry out the work. The student who was preparing the descriptions had some botanical training, but was not a specialist in the Leguminosae family and therefore had to consult with a botanical expert. Even though the guide was intended for non-specialists, the information that it was based on had to first come from an expert source, and then be ‘translated’ into more easily understood language: 1

  The first step was to limit the species content of the guide. The species of the Leguminosae family found in the Brazilian Caatinga were chosen because we could rely on an expert in this group who could subject the data collected and used in the descriptions to closer analysis, thus increasing its reliability.

  Even so, having limited the content of the guide, we were faced with the need to survey and collect data on about 250 species of plants, which would inevitably prove time consuming. We decided to employ a student with some specialist knowledge in this area to undertake this task. The work consisted of surveying all of the features of each species using detailed descriptions. These descriptions were made in accordance with a diagnostic form specially designed for the project, which made it possible to transfer the information into a database and to standardize the data on the species. The difficulties involved in producing the descriptions were corroborated by the student, as some specialist knowledge of the family was required for the process to go ahead smoothly. The time taken on this task is an important consideration: all of the later stages of a project to produce a guide depend upon the surveying of this data.

  Because of time constraints, another person was employed to produce the descriptions. It is essential that this stage is carefully planned, taking account of the time available and the degree of experience of the individual(s) who are to complete the descriptions of the species for the database.

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  Once all of the species had been described and the information fed into the database, the next step was to extract the data surveyed to build up a standardized description of all species. The information contained in the database had to be prepared to meet the needs of a description, in paragraph form. It is important to allow plenty of time for this and to choose the person responsible with care, as the job demands a certain degree of knowledge of the subject.

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  The third step is to make sure that all of the species descriptions are fully standardized and complete – that is, they contain all elements necessary to describe their salient features. The descriptions should be diagnostic

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  in nature (in other words, focus on the characteristics that help to identify them, not on a full description of every feature of each species) and emphasize those features which characterize each species, without introducing too many elements outside the standardized model.

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  The fourth step involves testing the descriptions on target users. This test showed us that the language adopted must be carefully graded in order to make it easily comprehensible for the user. Different language will be needed for each target readership.

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  The fifth step is to refine the language used in the descriptions in order to make it appropriate for the target user group, removing technical terms as far as possible that might cause difficulties for users without specialist knowledge. These adjustments to the language used bring with it another problem, that of space. If botanical terms have to be explained instead of used, the author will need to employ more words and, thus, more space.

  One way around this problem is to include a glossary for technical terms; but the language used in the glossary must also be suitable for the target users. To complement the glossary, an illustration can also be designed to show the morphology of the plants, with technical terms marked.

  To sum up, the descriptions must be succinct, clear and diagnostic in nature so that the target users can understand and use them. It is sometimes necessary to supply extra information to aid comprehension, although this information can be left out if a glossary and/or appropriate illustrations are included.

  Source: based on an interview with Jorge Costa chapter in terms of encouraging your target audience to buy the guide or use it, or to put into practice the information contained in it. Chapters that might come towards the end of the guide include a glossary, indexes and names of further contacts. The exact position of these in the guide will depend upon consultations with users and key informants that you conducted at the planning stage, and much of the content will come from the interviews and participatory research tools described above. Here is a checklist of the kinds of information that you might consider including:

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  Preface: often a very brief section written by a senior person who recommends the guide to the users, perhaps indicating how it was funded and why it was produced.

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  Acknowledgements: here the authors recognize and thank the efforts of all of those who contributed to the production of the guide; this may be a rather long chapter if the production process has been participatory. It is important to think carefully about this chapter as professional colleagues, as well as rural informants, are often delighted to see their name mentioned or are offended if it is omitted. This is an opportunity to show appreciation for their time and knowledge.

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  Contents page.

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  A section or chapter on ‘Who and what this guide is for’ near the beginning: this should be kept short and direct, and will help prospective users to decide whether to buy or use the guide. It also helps to personalize the guide by introducing the user from the beginning.

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  Geographic or botanical area covered: indicate to the user how you selected the species that are in the guide. It is very important to indicate here whether you are offering a selective (subjective) range of species (such as ‘useful species’ or ‘attractive flowering plants’) or have included every possible species that occurs in that area or that botanical group (see Chapter 3 on species selection). This will help users to understand whether they can be sure that the species is in the book, or whether they can propose new species to be included.

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  A map of the area, indicating key geographical features and ecological zones within the area, as well as human settlements or conservation designations (such as

  ‘national park’) where relevant.

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  A chapter or section on ‘How to use this guide’: again, keep it short and prominently near the beginning of the book. Tell users what to expect, and point to the tools that you have included to help them find their way around. Explain what order the species are in and why, and give step-by-step guidance on how to identify an unknown species. It will help your users to understand if you provide them with a couple of examples of these tools.