Managing accurate plant records is essential in botanical gardens especially with regard to plants used for research and conservation.
With nearly a hundred years' worth of plant records recorded in books and field notes, the SU Botanical Garden has begun the process of digitising its records. IrisBG, the state-of-the-art database that the Botanical Garden recently started utilising, not only maintains records but can also be used to map plants within a few square centimetres. Researchers and staff will also be able to use a mobile devices and barcode scanners to update records quickly and efficiently.
The system offers more. Select information on the collection will be available to visitors via the Garden’s webpage in the near future. This will allow visitors to search the Botanical Garden’s collections or even take self-guided or virtual tours. Even though this system is widely used abroad, the SU Botanical Garden is the first botanical garden in South Africa to use this system.
The system also integrates with the new plant labelling system, meaning that labels are now generated from the database, considerably reducing the workload to maintain interpretive plant labels. The new metal labels are also much more durable than the plastic labels previously used. Labels are now multilingual and also supply more information about plants such as their conservation status or traditional uses.
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Old SU Botanical Garden plant record book
