Key to the botanical symbols used:

This botanical symbol set was designed in 2006 for use in these composite images and was first published in 2007 in Digital Diversity - a new approach to botanical illustration. The research and background to developing the symbol set and corresponding font are documented in Simpson, N. (2010) Botanical symbols – a new symbol set for new images. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 162: 117–129. (see Publications).

Botany symbols font

The corresponding font Simpsonbotanysymbols.otf  was created in January 2009. Being an OpenType font, it is suitable for both PC and MAC use. It contains two versions of each of the symbols, accessed by the keystrokes A to V. Lower case gives the plain symbols for use in text, while using caps gives the boxed version, for use at larger font sizes in graphics.

Download the font here:

The set has been extended and improved for use within text as well as images

New extended botany symbol set
An extended set has been designed and a corresponding font created, but release is awaiting publication of a paper supporting the design of the additional symbols. The new extended set includes symbols for the following meanings:- aquatic
climber
evergreen
semi-evergreen
deciduous
coniferous
broadleaved
native
introduced
native status unknown