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Plant anatomy & using keys

Herbs & Health class

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Recognition and identification of plants

  1. Learn it in every season
  2. Learn its typical habits
  3. Learn to use plant ID and plant key books
  4. Practice

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1. Seasons and identification

Spring, seedling, 3”

Late spring 1 ft tall

Summer, 3 ft tall

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Seasons and identification

Late summer, bolting

In full flower

Gone to seed “burr”

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Burdock is a biennial�Definition - taking 2 years to complete its life cycle

  • It only grows the basal rosette the first year
  • It grows the flower stalk and flowers in its second year.

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  • Eat the root of first year plants.
  • Eat the stems of 2nd year plants.

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  • How will you know? Observe other burdocks around you.

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Spring is the hardest season to know plants

  • The identifying characteristics are small or missing.

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  • You can use habitats to help you identify spring plants that do not have other identifiers.

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  • Remember the plants that reoccur in the same place year after year

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Spring is the hardest – remember from last year

  • I know comfrey regrows in the same place in our pasture every single year and identify it by leaf alone rather than waiting for it to flower.

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Comfrey: Symphytum officinale

  • Used in healing of swelling, bruises, sprains and bones.

(knitbone, boneset) (Greek symphis, means knitting of bones)

  • Use only externally. Considered toxic to liver (alkaloids)
  • Make a poultice out of leaves.
  • Best if leaves are harvested before the plant flowers.
  • Active ingredient is Allantoin which aids in cellular “granulation”

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2. Learn typical habitats

Wet or dry?

Shady or sunny?

Forested or field?

Wild or domestic?

Low nutrient needs or high?

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Many herbs are “all around” stars but some really thrive in specific places.

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Typical habitats or biomes

wet

dry

Running water

Disturbed areas

Still water

Open fields

Northern bogs

Old fields

swamps

Thickets

Wet meadows

Open woods

Moist woods

Pine (northern) woods

Seashore

Tundra/alpine

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3. Plant ID and plant keys

  • There are many books on the market.
  • Some use just pictures.
  • Good if the organization is clear.
  • Often based on flower color

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Flower color – seven is typical

  1. White to pinkish white
  2. Yellow
  3. Orange
  4. Pink to red
  5. Violet to blue
  6. Green
  7. Green to brown

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The problem with flower color

Only works when plant is in flower

Typically that’s a short time

What is the organization after flower color?

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Dichotomous keys

  • Make a choice
  • Either THIS (1) or THAT (2)
  • Single key access (alternate name)
  • Like a branching tree
  • Leads you to the correct answer

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Anything can be keyed out including the example of candy.

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Anything can be keyed out including the example of shrews?

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Key organization is up to the author

  • How would you start an herbal plant key?
  • What would be your first THIS or THAT question?

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Characteristics on which to separate THIS from THAT

  • Woody or herbaceous
  • Perennial or annual
  • Flowering or not flowering
  • Flower color
  • Plant height
  • Leaf type

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Characteristics on which to separate THIS from THAT

The best keys use characteristics that are reliable, easy to observe

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  • Woody, may be tough to tell on young plants
  • Perennial or annual – very hard to tell by looking at it
  • Flower color, may vary with varieties
  • Height – may vary with individuals & varieties
  • Leaf shape – good. Reliable, easy to observe.
  • Does it flower? Start with flowering plant keys.

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Looking at just one characteristic may not be good enough to help you.

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Leaves are often a first separator

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To use a key, you must know plant anatomy

  • Leaf shapes
  • Leaf attachments
  • Flower shapes
  • Hairiness and other terms

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Online keys are available

  • Not really dichotomous
  • You are asked to make multiple choices
  • Pretty reliable
  • Terminology is INTENSE in some
  • Books give you more background

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From U-Minnesota wildflower ID website

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Leaf shapes

From U-Minnesota wildflower ID website

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Leaf shapes

From U-Minnesota wildflower ID website

of flowers

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Leaf shapes

From U-Minnesota wildflower ID website

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Leaf shapes

From U-Minnesota wildflower ID website

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Flower parts to know

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Ovary position is used in keying similar flowers

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Let’s try it

  • 1) Is it woody?
  • 2) is it herbaceous (green stemmed)?

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2. Herbaceous

1) Is the leaf simple or

2) Is the leaf compound

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3. Compound leaf

  • 1) is it pinnately compound
  • 2) is it palmately compound

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4. Palmately compound, trifoliate

Oblate leaflet or

Lanceolate leaflet

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If flowers were available….

Alsike clover

Stems ascending?

Stems descending?

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Grasses – other keyed traits

Clasping auricles -

quackgrass

Smooth or fringed ligule

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Other characteristics

  • Hairy (glabrous) or smooth leaves or stems?
  • Growth habit - Prostrate or upright?

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  • There are a lot more characteristics than those we can cover in this class.

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4. Practice: Key out the plants on the webpage diagrams.

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  • A good game to see if you grasp the KEYS concept
  • Practicing will help you with anatomy terminology
  • You will practice some of the 25 plants to know for the test
  • http://fergusonfoundation.org/btw-students/plant-identification/

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