More ideas for a plant database: Specification
USER INTERFACE FUNCTIONALITY (How the Database is Used)
Various Methods of Reporting and Downloading Data: I've used other plant databases before, but my frustration has been in not being able to download the information I need in a usable format. So much of the information is geared towards those who are already quite savvy in the plant world. We need for this infomation to be readily accessible for uses outside of landscape design. Think of the "edges" where permaculturists creating the design interact with property owners who know next to nothing about these new, wonderful plants, or where the database website is used by an 8th grade teacher to bring new information and perspectives to her students. These are some of the possible interactions with the data:
- User imports selected fields and records into their own database or spreadsheet to create detailed yet personalized planting notes to accompany a permaculture design.
- Selected photos & their captions (see below) are organized along with other relevant fields into a report form which fits on a 1/4 page (so plants per page, using both sides of the paper). This could then be printed and cut into a "Care Booklet" to help people to better care for and benefit from their plant.
- Photos and audio clips (see below) are selected by educators for a particular region being studied and are shown as an on-line slide show or are downloaded for further educational use.
DATABASE DESIGN (Type of Information Stored)
Database Multimedia Fields
PHOTOS: Many of these could have a default entry which shows general guidelines for plants which share that similarity. Each of these photos &
Plant Identification
- Seed
- Flower
- Closeups/whole plant
- With/without foilage
- In natural setting
- Distinguishing features (caption mentions characteristics of other plants which it may be confused for)
Plant at Various Stages of Development
- Seedling
- When ready to move out of the nursery
- When budding
- In full bloom
- When ready for pruning
- When ready for harvesting
- When ready for seed collection
- When ready to propegate
Plant's Growth Rate
- Size after 1st year
- Size at mid-size (caption states number of years)
- Size when full grown
Plant at Various Stages of Health
- Signs of overwatering/underwatering
- Signs of over/under exposure
- Signs of various types of nutritional deficiencies
- Signs of various types of pests & diseases
Plant Uses (perhaps a collage of photos showing which parts of the plants are used and how they are prepared in human use)
- Dying
- Weaving
- Spinning
- Medicine making
- Culinary
- Flower essences
- Children's play
- AUDIO CLIPS: Perhaps this would take up too much space, but it would be wonderful to have 2-5 minute clips giving a high level profile of the plant, including it's symbiotic relationship with the mineral, plant & animal kingdom, historical and current day uses by humans, its needs, and current outlook for survival. Sort of a "sales pitch" on the plant's behalf.
Database Text Fields
The following is information I would find really useful for my work. Each field should also have a large comment field attached, as some of these issues simply aren't that black and white. I have no idea how a plain database will search those comments. Also, many of these fields have more than one entry: i.e. flower colour.
PLANT IDENTIFICATION
- Botanical Name (aka)(there are quite a few)
- Common Name (aka)(there are usually tons of those)
- Family (helps for identification)
- REGION OF REFERENCE (i.e. Southern Coastal British Columbia - this is the region to which all of the information below is tied. Somebody from another region would have to add information to reflect what the plant is doing there. At some point it would help to know what the climate conditions in each region are like, but I don't know that we'll ever get down to microclimate. Plants aren't that mechanical - native strains evolve, etc. it becomes a real nightmare to try to get this too mechanized)
- NATIVE HABITAT (this helps to understand the plant's genetic needs re climate, soil, etc.)
- DESCRIPTION (this is mostly stuff needed for ornamental use. Because a lot of this is descriptive this information does not easily fit into normal databases. It would be really neat to be able to search each field for the criteria used in the database search)
- TYPE OF PLANT (i.e. broadleaf evergreen tree)
- NORMAL FULL HEIGHT (this varies greatly across the world, so depends on region)
- NORMAL FULL SPREAD (ditto)
- RATE OF GROWTH (ditto)
- FORM (ditto)
- BRANCHING PATTERN (helps with I.D and plant choice for all kinds of purposes (looking for a shade tree? strong scafffold for vines? windbreak?) - maybe it's the same as "form", in any case it's descriptive)
- TRUNK DESCRIPTION (mostly ornamental)
- BARK COLOUR (ditto)
- BARK DESCRIPTION (ditto)
- FOLIAGE: SPRING COLOUR (ditto)
- FOLIAGE: SUMMER COLOUR (ditto)
- FOLIAGE : FALL COLOUR (ditto)
- FOLIAGE: WINTER COLOUR (ditto)
- FOLIAGE DESCRIPTION (ditto)
- FLOWER: TIME (important for all kinds of purposes)
- FLOWER: COLOUR
- FLOWER : DESCRPTION
- FRUIT: TIME (important for all kinds of purposes)
- FRUIT: COLOUR
- FRUIT: DESCRIPTION
- BUDS DESCRIPTION
TOLERANCE LEVELS TO CULTURAL CONDITIONS (i.e. high, medium and low tolerance to specific conditions such as high clay content, etc. - see following. This has worked better for me in the past than normal classifications)
- High Clay Content
- High Sand Content
- Loam
- Low Mineral Fertility
- Low Organic Matter
- Soil Salinity
- pH Range
- Shallow Soil
- Poor Drainage WINTER
- Drought WINTER
- Poor Drainage SUMMER
- Drought SUMMER
- Full Sun
- Partial Shade
- Full Shade
- Hot Summers
- Cool Summers
- Mild Winters
- Cold Winter WITHOUT Snow Cover
- Cold Winter WITH Snow Cover
- USDA Hardiness Zone
- Lowest Temperature Tolerance
- Wind
- Snow Load
- Seaside Conditions
- COMMON PROBLEMS
- PROPAGATION
- SYNERGISTIC PLANTS Botanical name: Common Name:
- ANTAGONISTIC PLANTS Botanical name: Common Name:
VALUABLE FEATURES
- Ornamental
- Food / Human
- Fodder / Forage
- Economic
- Ecologic
Who wrote this, it would be interesting to know who has these requirements which I find quite useful.
