my $dbh = makeDBConnectionSomehow;
my @keywords = qw/blah bleh blah/;

# formats each keyword so it looks like %keyword%
my @executeKeywords = map ("\%$_\%",@keywords);
my $sql_stmt = "select * from database where";

# puts the "plantdescription like ? or pla.." at end of sql_stmt...one like per keyword
$sql_stmt .= join(" OR",(" PlantDescription LIKE ?")x@keywords); 

my $query = $dbh->prepare($sql_stmt);
my $query->execute(@executeKeywords);