Workshop
2: Definitions and plant parts Workshop 2a: Floral Parts Workshop
3:
Keys Workshop
4: Keys
Workshop 5: Weber Arnica key Workshop
6: Keys and species
Introduction to Wildflower
Identification of the San Juan/Four Corners Native Plant
Society Please Note: All photographs and all written material in this "Introduction to Wildflower Identification" and on this entire website are copyright by the authors and none of the material can be reproduced in any form without the expressed consent of the authors. For permission email Al. |
Outline for Workshop Introductions
|
|
1) The Person Some people are satisfied with admiring
the beauty of a plant; names are unimportant. **Whatever level we are at, curiosity, an unhurried pace, a
discerning eye, We hope this workshop gives you some
new tools to use 2) The Helpers **Take wildflower walks with someone who knows
more about plants. 3) The Books
State-wide botanical books Older state-wide floras Kearney and Peebles. Arizona Flora. 1960. Regional botanical books Cronquist et al. Intermountain Flora (The best flora of much of the West.) 4) Web sites Four Corners Wildflowers For more web sites see the links section of Four Corners Wildflowers More Tools of the trade 5) Notebook and pen 9) Two special botanical tools that will soon be available: Heil, O'Kane, Clifford. The Flora of
the Four Corners. **B) "Synthesis of the
North American Flora",
|
|
What is the purpose of identifying
plants and What's in a name? That which we call a
rose As if to name a thing were to know it. "I am the very model of a modern Major
General "The naming of cats is a difficult matter
... Without names, no knowledge.
|
Names: Common and Scientific Click for more information about common and scientific plant names. Common names originate with anyone. They sometimes are very descriptive, sometimes whimsical, sometimes a translation/rearrangement of the scientific name (Phacelia sericea = Silky Phacelia; Penstemon whipplei = Whipple's Penstemon). They are easy to pronounce and comfortable to use. There are few, if any, records about who gave the common name, when, or why -- or, most importantly, exactly which plant the name identifies. Common names vary from country to country, state to state, and even within small areas. Scientific names originate with a botanist -- amateur or professional. The names may be descriptive or they may honor a person or place. To be accepted as a valid name, they must be published with a full plant description and a dried specimen must be placed on file with details about its location, time and date of collection, etc. If another person later believes the name to be incorrect, they publish what they think should be the new name and internationally accepted botanical standards determines which name is correct. Many plants have had several scientific names given to them. One name is presently accepted; the others are called **"synonyms". The original plant that was described and named is called the "type specimen". It is preserved in an herbarium and plants thought to be the same must be compared with this type. Scientific plant names change for a number of
reasons: Family as well as genus and species names can change. There have been and continue to be attempts to
standardize scientific plant names. **Which names should we use? Weber's nomenclature A number of Weber's plant names and classification ideas are widely
accepted |
Pronouncing and Understanding Scientific Names Authority: William Stearns. Botanical Latin. Borror. Dictionary of Word Roots We can demystify scientific names and make ourselves much more comfortable using them if we learn about their pronunciation and meaning. **The most important pronunciation
suggestion: Other suggestions: I. Learn some basics of Latin
(Greek) pronunciation. There are exceptions: Asteraceae: No one says Ah steer ah cee ee B. Pronounce all vowels.
Pursh ia The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, Tokyo, 1993,
King ii
Gray i Some personal names have their spelling modified when uses as botanical names: Alice Aliciella II. Learn about the meaning of the plant names. A. Become familiar with the people who named plants and for whom plants were named and you will make the plant name meaningful and the plant memorable. You will also be fascinated with the lives these folks led as politicians, climbers, adventurers, and teachers. Fremont, Fendler, Engelmann,
Parry, Nuttall, Sources for biographies of
botanists and explorers: B. Learn some basic Latin and Greek word meanings and formations: -aceae: group, family Click for a very good list of more basic botanical Latin words Also see: Diminutives (small, smaller, smallest) Comparatives (bigger, longer) Superlatives (biggest, longest) C. Sources for scientific name meanings Four Corners Wildflowers D. **Writing scientific names. The name of a species is made up
of two parts, the genus name, which is capitalized, and the specific
epithet (often incorrectly called the "species"), which is not capitalized. Both are italicized. E. Writing common names. In many botanical books
common names are often capitalized
thusly:
|
Workshop
2: Definitions and plant parts Workshop 2a: Floral Parts Workshop
3:
Keys Workshop
4: Keys
Workshop 5: Weber Arnica key Workshop
6: Keys and species