When you do not have the plant's botanical name, start with:

Google IMAGE Search: http://www.google.com/imghp

Type in the common name of the plant and images will appear. Check out the various images and you are sure to find the botanical name. Next, go to and of the following sites with your botanical name to learn the most you can about your plant:

a. Hortiplex Plant Database: http://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/nph-ind.cgi
b. Missouri Botanical Garden Search Page: http://www.mobot.org/search.html
c. USDA Plant Database: http://plants.usda.gov/
d. Royal Botanic Garden: http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/
e. Botanical.com: http://www.botanical.com/
f. Univ. of Wisconsin: http://www.botany.wisc.edu/
g. U.S. National Herbarium: http://rathbun.si.edu/botany/ing/ingform.cfm
h. The Flora of North America: http://www.fna.org/FNA/
i. National Plant Data Center, US: http://npdc.usda.gov/npdc/

There are many, many more sites to help you in your search. Have fun surfing, but remember you are an artist not a researcher! So, if you still need addtional information, you can get help from your librarian to check out:

a. the Library of Congress for any books or journal articles; to access the Library of Congress catalog search www.catalog.loc.gov
b. JSTOR/Journal Storage: The Scholarly Journal Archive: http://uk.jstor.org where you can access hundreds of journals on line.
c. The Association of Research Libraries website at http://www.arl.org/index.html
d. Science Direct is the world's best resource for research journals, abstract databases and reference works. Your affiliated library can access this information. Ask the librarian if they are a member.
e. Ulrich‚s Periodical Directory has global resources. Your library has to subscribe however in order to access the journal you seek. http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/ulrichsweb_news/ulrichsweblinkse.asp

To save you time, here are a few more with great information:

Online:
· A Modern Herbal search: www.botanical.com
· Audubon search: www.audubon.org/search
· Bat Conservation International: www.batcon.org
· Berendsohn, W. G.: A taxonomic information model for botanical databases: the IOPI Model. Taxon 46: 283-309. 1997. ISSN 0040-0262.
· Evolution Journal search: www.evol.allenpress.com/evolonline/?request=search-simple
· Find Articles.Com: www.findarticles.com
· Floridata: www.floridata.com
· Garden Insects :http://www.botany.wisc.edu/spalding/naturephotos/botanygarden/gardeninsects.htm
· Google IMAGE Search: http://www.google.com/imghp
· Insects on the Web: www.bugbios.com
· Journal of Mammalogy: www.mammalsociety.org
· Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature: link (If you find the Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature database useful for your work, please mention it when citing sources of information. It may be cited as 'Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2000). Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature. Published on the Internet.
· Library of Congress catalog search: www.catalog.loc.gov
· Manatee County Library System: www.co.manatee.fl.us/service/library/index
· Marie Selby Botanical Garden: www.selby.org
· Missouri Botanical Garden W3 Tropicos search: www.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast
· National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/search.html
· North Carolina State University Horticultural Science :
· Online Biology Book: www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookTOC.html
· Orchid Web Archive search: www.orchidweb.org/cgi-local/hse/HomepageSearchEngine.cgi?extra

Plant scientific names for vegetables by common name: www.ashs.org/resources/plantnames/vegetables.common.html
· Plants Database: http://plantsdatabase.com/
· Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute search: www.stri.org
· Synonym search: www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com/synidmy.htm
· Taxa index: www.dipbot.unict.it/orto/e-1.html
· University of Hawaii Images and descriptions of Flowering Plant Families: www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/fpfamilies.htm
· Vascular Plant Image Library search: www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/gallery3
· University of Basel Botanical Image search: www.unibas.ch/botimage
· University of Connecticut: http://florawww.eeb.uconn.edu/acc_num/199200131.html

Journals:
· American Journal of Botany: http://www.amjbot.org/
· American Naturalist: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AN/home.html
· Annals of the Entomological Society of America: http://esa.edoc.com/0013-8746/
· Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden: http://www.jstor.org/journals/00266493.html
· Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics: http://www.jstor.org/journals/00664162.html
· Biotropica: http://www.jstor.org/journals/00063606.html
· Conservation Biology: http://www.jstor.org/journals/08888892.html
· Ecology: http://www.jstor.org/journals/00129658.html
· Entomological Society of America: http://esa.edoc.com/
· Environmental Entomology: http://www.entsoc.org/pubs/ee/
· Evolution: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/
· International Journal of Plant Sciences: http://www.jstor.org/journals/10585893.html
· Journal of Tropical Ecology: http://www.jstor.org/journals/02664674.html
· Ornithological Links: http://www.salemstate.edu/~pkelly/birdlinks.htm
· Selbyana: http://www.selby.org/research/pubs/seltop.htm
· Systematic Botany: http://www.jstor.org/journals/03636445.html
· The Affiliated Orchid Society: http://www.theaos.org/welcome/affiliated/index.shtml

Museums, Parks, Libraries
· Allyn Museum of Entomology, Sarasota, Florida
· Florida Museums: http://www.flamuseums.org/fam/flamuseums/
· World Museums: http://www.123world.com/museumsandgalleries/
· World Gardens: http://www.world-gardens.com/
· Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida: http://www.buschgardens.com/buschgardens_default.aspx
· Harry P. Leu Garden, Orlando, Florida: http://www.leugardens.org
· Fairchild Tropical Garden, Holmstead, Florida: http://www.fairchildgarden.org/
· Florida Botanical Garden, Largo, Florida: http://www.flbg.org
· Florida House UF, Sarasota, Florida: http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/FHLC/flahouse.html
· Marie Selby Botanical Garden and Library, Sarasota, Florida: http://www.selby.org
· University of South Florida New College, Sarasota, Florida: http://www.sarasota.usf.edu/
· National Libraries: http://www.publiclibraries.com/world.htm
· National Listing of Parks: http://usparks.about.com/
· National Listing of Natural History Museums: http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Environment_and_Nature/Natural_History_Museums/

Journal Citation Information:
Columbia University Press on how to list citations: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html
JSTOR/Journal Storage: The Scholarly Journal Archive: http://uk.jstor.org/