FORENSIC BOTANICAL

EVIDENCES
 INTRODUCTION
• Forensic Botany is the application of plant sciences to criminal
investigations. A relatively new discipline, forensic botany
incorporates several subdisciplines: palynology (the study of
pollens), dendrochronology (the study of tree rings), limnology
(the study of aquatic environments), systematics (the
classification of plants), ecology (the study of ecosystems), and
molecular biology.
• Forensic Botanists do not normally deal with human remains.
Their primary role in an investigation is in making connections
between evidence and a crime.
• Forensic botany is similar in its role to that of DNA fingerprint. Plant
material found at the crime scene can often be successfully linked to
perpetrator of the crime or can help to rule out a suspect in the crime.
Just as fingerprint are unique to individuals, plant material is often
unique to certain ecological areas or plant species.
• Trace botanical evidences can help a forensic investigator to link
objects or suspects to crime scene.
• Plant remains like pieces of wood, leaves, seeds, fruits, pollen, spores,
twigs, or even algae cells can be found anywhere.
• Plants allow to identify things such as what season crime took place,
geographical location, whether or not body has been moved, how long
a body has been buried.
 BOANICAL EVIDENCES
POLLEN : Pollen is a powdery biological material containing micro gametophytes of higher
plants released by anthers in large volumes. They are considered as one of the important botanical
evidences because of the following reasons:
(1) They are light and easily transported by wind.
(2) They can usually be traced on clothes, hair or skin.
(3) Being prevalent in the air, may be breathed into the lungs.
(4) They decompose slowly.
(5) They can be retrieved from millions of years old rocks.
(6) Being microscopic, remain unseen as silent witnesses and even if visible, unlike fingerprints,
it’s nearly impossible to do away with them from a crime scene.
(7) Like spores, exine of pollen grains of each plant possesses unique characteristics and this
'signature' can link an individual or object to a specific location. Pollen signatures may also further
indicate that a body has been moved or suggest the locality where the original crime took place.
WOOD : Wood is encountered, in one form or another, in connection
with a variety of crimes. Its use as evidence is limited primarily to three
areas: (1) physical matches between broken pieces of wood;
(2) as a substrate carrying tool marks
(3) as small pieces or particles of trace evidence
• The identification of small pieces of wood or sawdust, and normally
the only comparison that can be made is
to complete accurate identifications
of both the questioned and known
wood samples.
PLANTS – LEAVES, STEM, ROOTS : Some plant materials that can
be found in crime scene include leaves, stem and roots. Analysis of
cross section of stem and the patterns on leaves can help forensic
scientists to determine the species of plant. Plant material can be
easily cross transfer as the body is moved from place of death to
another crime scene, based on “LOCARD’S EXCHANGE PRINCIPLE”
COLLECTION OF BOTANICAL
EVIDENCES
LOCATION : Plant remains can play an important role in
exposing crime scene. It can be found anywhere at the crime, in
clothes of suspect, inside vehicle, folded cuff of suspected
person.
STORAGE : Plant evidence should be stored in cool and dry
place. Specimens are pressed flat and dried between absorbent
sheets or semi absorbent paper such as newspaper.
DOCUMENTATION : It is necessary to preserve the character
and manner in which evidence was located and collected from a
scene. Proper documentation involves multiple formats, such as
note taking, videography, photography, sketching.
PACKAGING : Evidences must be handled and packaged according to
the type and properly labelled and sealed with appropriate initials to
maintain chain of custody. Proper packaging help to avoid contamination
to the evidences which may alter its nature.
TRANSPORTATION : The final stage of the investigation and inquiry in
the process of the crime scene to pick and transport and storage
appropriate type of physical evidence in order to ensure integrity of the
evidences submitted to the laboratory storage.
ANALYSIS : Plant fragments are often collected as trace evidence, they
are only identified using microscopy and are still more rarely assessed
using molecular biology techniques for individualization and sourcing of
a sample. There are many different methods useful for DNA typing of
plants (DNA sequencing, STR, AFLP, RAPD).
 VALUE OF BOTANICAL EVIDENCE

WHAT BOTANICAL EVIDENCE CAN DO :

• Determine the circumstances and cause of death
• Estimate time frames in relation to the death
• Establish where the death could have been taken place
• Determine if there were multiple crime scenes
• Prove or disapprove of alibi
• Place a suspect at the scene of crime
 ADVANTAGES OF BOTANICAL EVIDENCES
Plant evidences are long-lasting, which means that plant parts to remain
identifiable for very long period of time.
 Plant cells are made of cellulose, a complex carbohydrate compounds.
 Cellulose are nearly indestructible and do not decay quickly.
 Pollen grains and spores also have walls that are made of different decay
resistant material.
The botanical evidences can be used in conjunction with other pieces of
physical evidences and used to determine a sequence of events to help
solve the crime. Plant remains are found in wide variety of places. So with
the help of these botanical evidences it is easy to connect with the crime.
 ANALYSIS OF BOTANICAL EVIDENCES

• Leaves, stems, roots, pollen, spores, seeds are analysed by their

physical structures and patterns. Pollen and spores often requires the
use of microscopes to analyse New technology has allowed forensic
scientists to extract DNA and determine the plant species.
Crime Scene Investigation
Plant materials are one of the easiest evidences to be cross transferred
There are cross transfer of evidence as a body is moved from the place
of death to another crime scene Botanical evidences including leaves,
pollen, spores, and others help determine if there are multiple crime
scenes Diatoms are present in the lungs & bone marrow of drowning
victims.
 LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Plants may be present as biological evidence in many ways:-

• Seeds caught and carried in a pant cuff.
• Grass stains on a dress after a sexual assault.
• Plant leaves and stems snagged and carried in a vehicle’s
undercarriage, grill, wheel, wells or trunk.
• Forensic botany is gaining acceptance in court and its
potential to help solve crimes has been shown many times.
 CASE STUDY
CASE 1
• Arthur Koehler who was an expert on wood anatomy. He used certain botanical evidences
to solve one of the most important cases of New Jersey at that time. This was the trial of B.
R. Hauptmann for kidnapping the young son of Charles Lindbergh, aviation hero of that
time. Dr. Koehler uniquely mentioned in his testimony about the structure of wood of the
ladder used by the kidnapper. Koehler presented three kinds of information from his
study of the ladder – 1) Identification of the wood used,
2) Physical marks left by tools on the wood,
3) Comparisons of the wood structure.
• During identification procedure, he saw very thin and characteristically thick walled
epithelial cells surrounding the resin canals in pine and douglas fir respectively. The
wood of the top left rail of the ladder clearly seen to be sawn away from some bigger
piece as there were nail holes in it. Therefore, Koehler notified authorities to look for some
missing.
• wooden board in any place linked with the suspect. Interestingly, police found that
one of the floor boards in Hauptmann’s attic had been partly cut away. Further,
Koehler was able to show in the court that the attic board and the ladder rail
belonged to a single board as their annual rings matched exactly and more
importantly, he showed that patterns of annual rings are unique and no other random
board would have an absolutely identical pattern. Thus, wood anatomical evidence
ultimately proved to be helpful in convicting the suspect.

CASE 2
• A young woman was raped in an alleyway, in Christchurch in 1997. The suspect was
arrested and he admitted being in the area, the woman mentioned but not in the
particular alleyway (crime site). The passage was lined by a row of small flowering
shrubs of wormwood, Artemisia arborescens L. which were found to be broken and
flattened. There was no other evidence like DNA except the dirt-stains on suspect’s
clothes. The analysis of the latter was done with a comparative sample of soil from the
site in a forensic palynology laboratory and following results obtained:
(a) As expected, the soil sample was dominated by pollen grains of Artemisia
(b) As pollen grains were present in clumps indicating that they are not blown from
anywhere else but was present at the site of crime.
(c) The exine of pollen of this genus was distinctively thick and echinate (spiny).
(d) The analysis of soil sample also revealed aggregates of unusually large, thick
walled fungal spores.
• On investigating, it was found that the Artemisia pollen dominated the clothing
sample with the clumps of same type of fungal spores. The species was not common
and rarely planted in gardens. After careful processing of large number of samples
from different localities, the forensic experts could only found the specific pollen in
trace amount with seldom occurrence of fungal spores. Pollen and spore combination
proof helped in convicting the suspect.