BOT 1 An Ethnobotanical Study on Aloe Vera Research
BOT 1 An Ethnobotanical Study on Aloe Vera Research
Instructions for Species Account Assignment
For this assignment you will be required to do research on a species of your choice and write a
species account based on that information. This is intended to familiarize you with the biological
literature and give you a chance to practice writing scientific type-papers. Knowledge of the primary
and secondary biological literature, as well as writing, is an important skill that you will use for the
rest of your academic as well as professional careers.
You may choose any species within the Kingdom Plantae. There are a number of examples of species
accounts accessible online. Your account should include, but not limited to topics such as:
Distribution, Natural history (habitat requirements, nutrition, reproduction, and interactions),
Ecology/ conservation issues, and human-interest value (This is likely to be the most interesting
part of your account and may begin by addressing what it was about your plant species/ species
group that drew you to it. What makes your plant particularly interesting to humans? What
are the commercial/economic value as an ornamental? Pharmaceutical – native food crop,
traditional medicines, ceremonial rituals, etc.? nutritional supplement? food crop? structural
material? other product? Or, is it of interest because of its historical uses and/or applications?)
The species account should be typed and 2-3 single-spaced pages in length. Use a standard 12-
point font such as Times New Roman. Use of an oversized font or increasing the margins in order to
write less will result in points being taken off. BOT 1 An Ethnobotanical Study on Aloe Vera Research
Spelling and grammar as well as content will be taken into account when grading your assignments.
Although the spell checker is a handy tool, make sure you have the auto-correct turned off since the
dictionary in most programs is limited and will often change your biological term into a common
word you did not intend to use. It is a good idea to give yourself enough time to have someone else
proofread your assignment, or re-read it yourself a day or two after you finish it. You may realize
that what you thought made sense when you wrote it at 3 A.M. doesn’t when you look at it again at 9
A.M.
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Scientific names must be in italics, or underlined, with the genus, but not the specific epithet
capitalized (example: Hibiscus elatus). The genus may be abbreviated (H. elatus) after the first time
you use the full name, but the abbreviation may not be used to start a sentence. Never use “the” in
front of a scientific name. For example: “The Hibiscus elatus is a tropical plant.” should be written
“Hibiscus elatus is a tropical plant.” Scientific names may also be used as a singular or a plural, just
be consistent throughout the text.
Although the web is widely used as a source of general information, it is usually not acceptable as a
valid scientific source. In addition, web site content is rarely verified or peer reviewed, so you need
to careful about accepting the validity of the information found on the web. Most of the information
for your species account should come from the primary literature, articles from scientific journals
such as The Plant Journal, or Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. Articles from newspapers or
popular magazines may lead you to an interesting topic, but are not valid sources of scientific
information. Numerous search engines, such as Google Scholar can help find biological articles as
well as the SMC library website.
Prof. Davis BOT 1 Ethnobotany Species account
Secondary literature, books containing information on your species that cite the primary literature,
may also be used. If you have any question as to whether a source of information is valid, please ask.
Format for citations in text
Sources must be cited in the text. If more than two authors appear on the author line, then abbreviate
in the citation using et al., but list all authors in the literature cited section at the end of the species
account.
Catharanthus roseus is a valuable and important medicinal plant that produces complex
antitumor drugs that are effective against a variety of cancers (van der Heijden et al., 2004).
Or
van der Heijden et al. (2004) indicated suggest that Catharanthus roseus is a valuable and
important medicinal plant that produces complex antitumor drugs that are effective against a
variety of cancers.
Literature cited section
You must include at least 6 references from the primary or secondary literature (explained below) as
part of your species account. You will use the Ecology citation style─author-date format. Citations
must be listed in alphabetical order by the first author and in chronological order, if using multiple
publications from one author. Avoid the use of webpages as sources. Use the following format for
your citations. BOT 1 An Ethnobotanical Study on Aloe Vera Research
Book:
Lack, D. 1976. Island Biology: Illustrated by the landbirds of Jamaica. University of California
Press, Berkeley, California.
Journal Article:
van der Heijden, R., Jacobs, D.I., Snoeijer, W., Hallard, D. and Verpoorte, R. (2004). The
Catharanthus alkaloids: pharmacognosy and biotechnology. Current Medical Chemistry.
11:607–628.
Article in edited book:
Daily, G. C. 1997. Introduction: what are ecosystem services. Pages 1-10 In Nature’s Services:
societal dependence on natural ecosystems G. C. Daily ed. Island Press, Covelo, California. BOT 1 An Ethnobotanical Study on Aloe Vera Research
