plant identification tips and resources -...
TRANSCRIPT
Plant Identification Tips and Resources
Tips from a non-botanist naturalist
April, 2015
Bill Dodd <[email protected]>
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
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
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
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
Pro Tip
Having trouble finding one of these?Find it at the Wildflower Center Gift Shop!
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
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
“Vascular Plant Families”James Payne Smith, Jr.
“Guide to Flowering Plant Families”Wendy Zomlefer
Flo Oxley recommends these in her taxonomy classes
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● 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
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
http://wildflower.org/plants/
Take advantage of the “Combination Search” options
Mobile Apps
Wildflowers ofCentral Texas
(George also has appsfor North, East, South
And West Texas)
BRIT Guide toTexas Range and
Pasture Plants
Audubon Wildflowers
Mobile Apps
Texas Invaders
iNaturalist
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/
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/
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/
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
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.
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