Plant Identification Tips and
Resources
Tips from a non-botanist naturalist
April, 2015
Bill Dodd <[email protected]>
Agenda
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Why learn to identify plants?
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Field guides
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Reference books
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Identification pro tips
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Online resources
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Mobile apps
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Advanced Training
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Societies, organizations, etc.
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Volunteer opportunities
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Specialized topics
Why learn to identify plants?
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Lots of volunteer ops involve plant ID
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Plant surveys
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Invasive species mapping/removal
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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
Field Guides
Flowers
Woody plants
“Wildflowers of the
Texas Hill Country”
Marshall Enquist
“Native & Naturalized
Woody Plants of Austin &
the Hill Country”
Brother Daniel Lynch
Grasses
“Grasses of the Texas Hill
Country”
Brian & Shirley Loflin
Field Guides, Take 2
Flowers
“Wildflowers of Texas”
Geyata Ajilvsgi
Woody plants
“Trees, Shrubs, and Vines
of the Texas Hill Country”
Jan Wrede
Grasses
“Common Texas Grasses:
An Illustrated Guide”
Frank W. Gould
Pro Tip
Having trouble finding
one of these?
Find it at the Wildflower
Center Gift Shop!
Reference Books
“The Bible of Texas Plants”
“Manual of the Vascular
Plants of Texas”
Correll and Johnston
“Shinners and Mahler's”
“Flora of North Central Texas”
Diggs, Lipscomb and
O'Kennon
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.
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.
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
Books on Plant Families
Flo Oxley recommends these in her taxonomy classes
“Vascular Plant Families”
James Payne Smith, Jr.
“Guide to Flowering Plant Families”
Wendy Zomlefer
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.
Pro Tip
Other tools to carry in the field
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Digital camera to document and aid in
identification back at home (prefer point-andshoot over phone – better macro)
Ruler with mm markings – many keys will
specify dimension ranges
Online Resources
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Wildflower Center Native Plant Database
http://wildflower.org/plants/
USDA Plants Database
http://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 Herbarium
http://atrium.brit.org/digital_herbarium.php
http://wildflower.org/plants/
Take advantage of the “Combination Search” options
Mobile Apps
Audubon Wildflowers
Wildflowers of
Central Texas
(George also has apps
for North, East, South
And West Texas)
BRIT Guide to
Texas Range and
Pasture Plants
Mobile Apps
Texas
Invaders
iNaturalist
Advanced Training
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Taxonomy classes by Flo Oxley
http://npsot.org/wp/austin/meetings-events/
Wildflower Center Go Native U
http://www.wildflower.org/gonativeu/
Wildflower Center symposiums, lectures, etc.
NPSOT chapter meetings (Austin, Wilco, etc.)
and yearly state meeting
http://npsot.org/
Societies, organizations, etc.
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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/
Volunteer Opportunities
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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 surveys
http://npsot.org/wp/wilco/field-trips/
Specialized topics - Ferns
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
“The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas”
Diggs and Lipscomb
Lichens
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.
“Lichens of North America”
Brodo, Sharnoff & Sharnoff
Bryophytes – Mosses, liverworts
and hornworts
“Gathering Moss: A Natural and
Cultural History of Mosses”
Robin Wall Kimmerer
“Common Mosses of the
Northeast and Appalachians”
McKnight, Rohrer, Ward, et al.