This year I have really focussed on building up my plant knowledge. I have got into the habit of taking a very small digital camera with me to take close-ups of flora I do not recognise. I can remember this but not always the field guide for ID-ing. It often takes much longer to ID it than to snap it anyway.
For quite a while I have struggled ID-ing the pictures (and plants) I have taken home as I cannot rely on just one plant ID book. However I have three different approaches to plant ID books that enables me to very easily zero in on the plant. I call this my 'triangulation ID method'.
I have a plant ID book that groups the plants by family - this is often good if many of the plants in that family share a common characteristic. This is particularly useful as your body of knowledge increases over time. You look at a plant and say, 'hmmm...it loooks a bit like a......'. It helps you link up family characteristics and eventually speed up your ID technique. But a book like this is not any good on its own if you simply cannot tell which family it belongs to.
I also have a book that looks at physical characteristics - colour of flower, habitat then petal characteristic. This is my 'backbone book' the one which, if you are meticulous, and have a bit of time, can really nail what plant it is. However, plants DO vary in appearance and this often leaves me in some doubt as to the picture I looking at might indeed be the same plant. That's why it helps then referring back to the first book as it not only gives another picture of the plant it will also have some similar plants in the same family. Which it might be one of those. But sometimes I am still left with a nagging doubt. There are soooo many plants out there....
But not all of them develop and flower at the same time. Enter (stage left), my final plant ID book: one that is arranged by growing season/month. Give or take slight regional variation this then helps be increase my certainty that the plant I am looking at is the one (it provides yet another picture) and provides a snapshot of when this plant is in flower. This book comes into its own as I tend to read a month ahead and get into my head what plants I might be seeing as they come into flower. It helps prime me to what to expect when I walk out my front door and has proved invaluable in ID-ing things on the hoof.
Until I discovered this 'triangulation' approach to plant ID I really struggled in this area. Now I am building some firm foundations the will reap dividends when the cycle begins once again, next year.
Happy foraging.
LBL
For quite a while I have struggled ID-ing the pictures (and plants) I have taken home as I cannot rely on just one plant ID book. However I have three different approaches to plant ID books that enables me to very easily zero in on the plant. I call this my 'triangulation ID method'.
I have a plant ID book that groups the plants by family - this is often good if many of the plants in that family share a common characteristic. This is particularly useful as your body of knowledge increases over time. You look at a plant and say, 'hmmm...it loooks a bit like a......'. It helps you link up family characteristics and eventually speed up your ID technique. But a book like this is not any good on its own if you simply cannot tell which family it belongs to.
I also have a book that looks at physical characteristics - colour of flower, habitat then petal characteristic. This is my 'backbone book' the one which, if you are meticulous, and have a bit of time, can really nail what plant it is. However, plants DO vary in appearance and this often leaves me in some doubt as to the picture I looking at might indeed be the same plant. That's why it helps then referring back to the first book as it not only gives another picture of the plant it will also have some similar plants in the same family. Which it might be one of those. But sometimes I am still left with a nagging doubt. There are soooo many plants out there....
But not all of them develop and flower at the same time. Enter (stage left), my final plant ID book: one that is arranged by growing season/month. Give or take slight regional variation this then helps be increase my certainty that the plant I am looking at is the one (it provides yet another picture) and provides a snapshot of when this plant is in flower. This book comes into its own as I tend to read a month ahead and get into my head what plants I might be seeing as they come into flower. It helps prime me to what to expect when I walk out my front door and has proved invaluable in ID-ing things on the hoof.
Until I discovered this 'triangulation' approach to plant ID I really struggled in this area. Now I am building some firm foundations the will reap dividends when the cycle begins once again, next year.
Happy foraging.
LBL
