plant identification tips and resources -...
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Plant Identification Tips and Resources
Tips from a non-botanist naturalist
April, 2015
Bill Dodd <[email protected]>
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Agenda● Why learn to identify plants?
● Field guides
● Reference books
● Identification pro tips
● Online resources
● Mobile apps
● Advanced Training
● Societies, organizations, etc.
● Volunteer opportunities
● Specialized topics
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Why learn to identify plants?
● Lots of volunteer ops involve plant ID
– Plant surveys
– Invasive species mapping/removal
– Leading interpretive hikes
● Birding: “It's in the top of the 3rd cedar elm from the left”
● Insect ID: Know the plant a caterpillar is munching and you've greatly narrowed down the insect choices
● Understand the ecosystem: geology → soils → plant communities → birds/insects/mammals that consume the plants
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Field Guides
Flowers GrassesWoody plants
“Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country”Marshall Enquist
“Native & Naturalized Woody Plants of Austin & the Hill Country”Brother Daniel Lynch
“Grasses of the Texas Hill Country”Brian & Shirley Loflin
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Field Guides, Take 2
Flowers GrassesWoody plants
“Wildflowers of Texas”Geyata Ajilvsgi
“Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of the Texas Hill Country”Jan Wrede
“Common Texas Grasses: An Illustrated Guide”Frank W. Gould
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Pro Tip
Having trouble finding one of these?Find it at the Wildflower Center Gift Shop!
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Reference Books
“The Bible of Texas Plants” “Shinners and Mahler's”
“Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas”Correll and Johnston
“Flora of North Central Texas”Diggs, Lipscomb and O'Kennon
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Pro Tip
Use a key for plant identification!
Don't be afraid of using a key.
With a little practice and patience, you will find them very useful.
The key in the Brother Lynch book is a good one for the layman to start learning from.
In the reference books, generally a key for each family and a key for each genus.
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Pro Tip
Learn to recognize plants by family!
Once you narrow to family, a lot less plants to search through in your field guide.
It is common for a key to start at the family.
First key will get you from family to genus.
Then jump to the genus key to get to species.
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Plant Families – Floral Formulas
Family Sepals Petals Symmetry Stamens Carpels Ovary
Lamiaceae (Mint)
5 5 bilateral 2 or 4 2 hypogynous (superior)
Onagraceae (Primrose)
4 4 radial 8 4 epigynous (inferior)
* Image from www.bio.miami.edu
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Books on Plant Families
“Vascular Plant Families”James Payne Smith, Jr.
“Guide to Flowering Plant Families”Wendy Zomlefer
Flo Oxley recommends these in her taxonomy classes
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Pro Tip
Always carry a loupe or magnifier in the field!
A 10x hastings triplet is small, lightweight and excellent optical quality.
Very useful for counting stamens in a flower, seeing tiny hairs on a leaf surface or discovering the miniature world of lichens and mosses.
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Pro Tip
Other tools to carry in the field● Digital camera to document and aid in
identification back at home (prefer point-and-shoot over phone – better macro)
● Ruler with mm markings – many keys will specify dimension ranges
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Online Resources
● Wildflower Center Native Plant Databasehttp://wildflower.org/plants/
● USDA Plants Databasehttp://plants.usda.gov/
● Google web search and image search
● Image Archive of Central Texas Plants (BIO 406D)http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/bio406d/PlantPics_archive.htm
● BRIT Digital Herbariumhttp://atrium.brit.org/digital_herbarium.php
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http://wildflower.org/plants/
Take advantage of the “Combination Search” options
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Mobile Apps
Wildflowers ofCentral Texas
(George also has appsfor North, East, South
And West Texas)
BRIT Guide toTexas Range and
Pasture Plants
Audubon Wildflowers
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Mobile Apps
Texas Invaders
iNaturalist
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Advanced Training
● Taxonomy classes by Flo Oxleyhttp://npsot.org/wp/austin/meetings-events/
● Wildflower Center Go Native Uhttp://www.wildflower.org/gonativeu/
● Wildflower Center symposiums, lectures, etc.● NPSOT chapter meetings (Austin, Wilco, etc.)
and yearly state meetinghttp://npsot.org/
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Societies, organizations, etc.
● Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT)http://npsot.org/http://npsot.org/wp/austin/http://npsot.org/wp/wilco/
● Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT)http://www.brit.org/
● Native Prairies Association of Texas (NPAT)http://www.texasprairie.org/
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Volunteer Opportunities● Invasive Species Removal - City of Austin Wildlands - contact
Amanda Ross, [email protected], 512-972-1690
● Invasive Species Mapping - http://www.texasinvasives.org/
● ANSC Biodiversity Survey - contact Melissa Macdougall, [email protected], 512-422-6270
● Seed Savers Sorting - http://www.keepaustinbeautiful.org/seedsavers - contact Ladye Anne, [email protected]
● Vegetation Surveys - Wildflower Center - contact Carrie McDonald, [email protected], 512-232-0102
● Wildflower Center Fauna Project - contact Val Bugh, [email protected]
● NPSOT Williamson County plant surveyshttp://npsot.org/wp/wilco/field-trips/
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Specialized topics - Ferns
“The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas”Diggs and Lipscomb
Texas has 127 native fern and lycophyte species, more than any other state in the continental US! (Florida has 113)● East Texas: 62 species● Edwards Plateau: 63 species● Trans-Pecos: 80 species
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Lichens
“Lichens of North America”Brodo, Sharnoff & Sharnoff
Lichens are symbiotic organisms made up from members of 2 or 3 kingdoms.
The dominant partner is a fungus.
These lichenized fungi partner with an algae or cyanobacteria (sometimes both!) that can produce food by photosynthesis.
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Bryophytes – Mosses, liverworts and hornworts
“Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians”McKnight, Rohrer, Ward, et al.
“Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses”Robin Wall Kimmerer