Plant Identification Techniques

1
Plant Identification Techniques

• Dr. Jennifer Frick-Ruppert
• ACEE Executive Director
• Associate Professor of Ecology and Environmental
  Studies

2
Dichotomous Keys

• Used to identify an unknown organism
• For plants, usually regional and restricted to
  certain taxa
• Handout
• An example
• Practice using seeds

3
Key Characters of Flowering Plants

• Flowers and fruits
• Component parts
• Shapes
• Arrangement
• Color
• Leaves
• Shapes
• Arrangement
• Roots
• Mostly just for medicinal plants

4
Flowers

• Arrangement of inflorescence
• Regular versus Irregular
• Regular Parts
• Sepal (Calyx)
• Petal (Corolla)
• Ray or disk
• Irregular parts
• Spur
• Standard petals
• Spathe/spadix

5
Leaves

• Shape
• Dissected,
• Linear,
• Compound
• Arrangement on stem
• Opposite
• Basal
• Petiole
• Sessile
• Stipules

6
Roots

• Bulb
• Bulblets
• Rhizome (stem)
• Tuber
• Taproot
• Fibrous root not pictured (grass)

7
Medicinal Poisonous Plants A matter of degree

• Active components
• Discourage grazers
• Encourage fruit distribution or flower
  pollination
• Affect insect reproduction
• Have unknown purposes
• Small amounts are often stimulants, but large
  doses are dangerous (nicotine in tobacco)

8
Responsible Use

• Conservation should be first priority
• Especially important if root is dug
• Can you use the plants sustainably?
• Harvest only parts that can regrow
• Do not harvest all the plants in an area
• Permission of landowners, including public
• Sheer numbers of people harvesting
• Ginseng, Goldenseal, etc.

9
References

• Foster, S. and Duke J.A. 1990. A Field Guide to
  Medicinal Plants Eastern/Central North America.
  Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin Company,
  Boston.
• Peterson, R.T. and McKenny. A Field Guide to
  Wildflowers Northeast North America. Peterson
  Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.