Online plant photos - good for IDing

[Jodie]

I have found these and I think they have some promise but they are a bit clinical. The
flowers are ordered by family (eg Asteraceae / Compositae).

Plants
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Plants/index.html

For example, the Wild Flowers section has "3" next to it which means 3 subgroups,
not 3 flowers, and when you click on that it divides into Conifers (not entirely sure
why as there didn't appear to be an awful lot of flowers in there), dicotyledons and
monocotyledons and it's these last two where the flowers are.

Dicots
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Plants/Wild-Flowers/Dicotyledons/index.html

...and here's Pineapple mayweed
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Ho...momila-suaveolens/Chamomila-suaveolens-2.html

I think that it might be easier to find a particular plant by using Google to search the
website, eg:
site:www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Plants dandelion for example (type that into Google).

You can also search just within the first bit (www.dkimages.com) for dandelion and it
will bring up photos of the plant from within the food and drink, or gardenint sections too.
Quite an interesting site, but a bit 'navigating heavy' once you're in it, though logical.

 

[JonnyP]

Thanks Jodie, new ones on me.... I was only pulling up a load of pinapple weed out of the veg plot earlier today too..

 

[spamel]

I have some fun cards that are made by Usborne. They are a series of cards, I have 50 wild flowers to spot and 50 trees to spot. They are A6 sized (does that exist?) and are very handy indeed. They have a few facts, nothing quite like what we need to know, but some is very interesting.

Did you know that Common Alder, Alnus glutinosa, survives well in water without rotting so it's useful for making posts to support bridges such as the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy? One of the useful snippets that may come in handy during Trivial Pursuit!

Anyway, I think they are aimed at children and adults together on a day walk, but the have good colour drawings of flowers, fruits, leafs and a leafed and bare silhouette of the basic tree shape for that particular species. I never knew the small detail to look for to identify the difference between a sessile and english oak, but it is covered in the cards!

Flowers is also pretty good, but I have card 35 twice and am missing card 45!

They are hee at Amazon, and there is a bird version as well, altthough I cannot say how good it is either way. Good way to kill some time with the kids in the summer though!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/50-Flowers-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199650341&sr=8-1

 

[Jodie]

Unless I'm confusing it with something else I've eaten (likely) it was delicious the last time
I had some. In fact, I think it might have even tasted of pineapples...

Now listening: Digitonal on Purple Radio
http://www.purple-radio.co.uk/
(my mate Andy has a radio show on this and he is playing some very weird music!)

EDIT: Spamel that looks cool - thanks

 

[Rebel]

The DK site looks promising, thanks for the link.

For those who want to do some serious IDing then I recommend "The Wild Flower Key".

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Flower...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199656028&sr=8-1

A bargain at 12.99.

This was recommended to me by a lady who works at Kew gardens and was teaching me about plant identification. It does seem to be the most authoritative book I've come across with both dichotomous keys and illustrated keys.

It's good to have a variety of books if you can but if you only get one then I reckon this is the one to get.

 

[gregorach]

If I'm looking for ID images, I generally head for Bioimages...

 

[xylaria]

Thanks Jodie, new ones on me.... I was only pulling up a load of pinapple weed out of the veg plot earlier today too..

You can make a tea with it, tastes like chamomile with pineapple scent. If you are allergic to any realitve of the family don't bother.

i always have real problems IDing unknown plants using the net, thanks for the websites Jodie they will be really helpful.

 

[JonnyP]

You can make a tea with it, tastes like chamomile with pineapple scent. If you are allergic to any realitve of the family don't bother.

Thanks for that...
They have a lovely smell, don't they. There is loads out around here, so I will make some tea from them. One of my favourite herb teas is chamomile, so will be interesting to see.... Best used fresh or dried...?

 

[xylaria]

I prefer fresh but they are about the same. Fresh smells better.

[disgard any that smell even slightly of cat wee ]

 

[Jodie]

That Bioimages one is also a bit good - I had a bit of a pootle round there earlier, ta.

Rebel - I have that book. It scares me slightly