History of Forensic Botany

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1993

FBI Training

Dr. Hall teaches forensic botany at Quantico

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1986

Dr. Hall

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1970

Little progress is made

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1959

Europe

Forensic Palynology (study of pollen) used for the first time!

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1935

Legal acceptance

Forensic botany was first used in court!

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399 B.C.

Plato's phaedo

The first mention of forensic botany!

Forensic Botany

A History of

Conium macultium

The first mention in history of forensic botany was in Plato's Phaedo in 399 B.C.E. Phaedo describes Socrates' self administered death sentence of poison hemlock, Conium macultium. Socrates was sentenced to death for asking his students politico-philosophic questions, which led to accusations of moral corruption and impiety.

Not popular!

In the 1960's and early 1970's, few law enforcement officers were aware of forensic botany. Still today, dur to a lack of awareness and training, many crime0scene investigators do not notice or effectively collect botanical evidence. An exception is New Zealand, which has aggressively and effectively used forensic botany for many years.

Dr. David W. Hall

Use of botanical evidence is slowly increasing. Dr. Hall, a renowned forensic botanist at the University of Florida, who is also a consultant, an expert in plant identification and ecology, and author of eight books, has helped solve many crimes. In 1986 Dr. Hall was the first forensic botanist to be admitted to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Read an interview with Dr. Hall:

National Academy

In 1993, Dr. Hall taught forensic botany as part of the training for FBI agents at the National Academy at Quantico, Virginia. Since the late 1990's, many more law-enforcement officers and lawyers are being instructed in forensic botany. With the advent of several crime-related television programs, the general public has gained an awareness of the value of plant evidence.

Max Frei

In Europe in 1959, soil samples containing pollen from the surrounding plants were used to connect a suspect to a crime scene. Max Frei, a swiss criminalist, was able to link a suspect to a murder weapon when he found pollen consistent with that at the crime scene in the grease of the gun. Read more below!

Arthur Koehler

Charles Lindbergh was a famous aviator and national hero. His toddler was kidnapped using a homemade ladder, and later killed. Koehler examined wood samples from the ladder. He examined tool marks and annual rings. Read the article below to learn the full story:

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