Good Identification Sources

[papkey5]

I know that it is common in this community for us to ask for help identifying one another’s bonsai. I want to take it a step further and ask if anyone knows of a great source (book or encyclopedia type) for identification. Not one that is strictly for common bonsai stock but for trees/shrubs generally.
TIA

 

[jeremy_norbury]

This is fantastic, imnsho.

Pl@ntNet Identify

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'm a big fan of conifer.org, conifersociety and wikipedia.
To use most ID'ing tools it really helps to learn some latin-descendant shape descriptions; oblongate, oval, lancet, serrated and so on.
This can prove pretty helpful when plowing through less decribed cultivars.
Most of these shapes can be looked up though, just look at a plant that you do know and copy the words that resemble the plant that you want to identify.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Just about every state in the USA has a Dept of Natural Resources, and a Forestry Department, one or the other will have an on line guide to the trees and plants of your state. If you can't find Utah's, look for guides to adjacent states.

Wikipedia is surprisingly good if you already know enough to guess the right family or genus. Its hard to use if you have no idea where to start.

Tony Santoro has a couple really good, but irreverent and profanity filled tutorials on how to identify various plants. He's really good with western flora. Tony's YouTube channel is "Crime Pays, Botany Doesn't" - He is irreverent and occasionally crude in his presentation, slaughter's the pronunciations of the botanical terms, but he uses all the terms correctly. I thoroughly enjoy his videos.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK8bda0Bqux0eLwJEsRfOOeJbPUShSAuB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs7z_2081T4&list=PLK8bda0Bqux0eLwJEsRfOOeJbPUShSAuB&index=8

A Santoro video - Nevada - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4OJUgAwtEI
A video - Utah - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHVvG4sbwIo
Great Basin of Nevada - but part of the Great Basin extends into Utah - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyBw4261b-o
Arizona-Utah state line - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PESTi3SJQJY

There is more, just browse his list of videos, its quite lengthy.

Arborday Foundation app - its a bit general, it does not list all species but it will get you to nearest relatives. 0 https://www.arborday.org/trees/whattree/

Mobot hosts a number of Floras for many regions of the world. - https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plant-science/plant-science/world-flora-online.aspx

Resources

The actual links to the databases - http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/alldb.shtml

Dictionary of Botanical Terms - http://www.mobot.org/mobot/LatinDict/search.aspx

Flora of North America - http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1

Flora of North America - Harvard Portal - different search terms to access the Flora of NA. http://floranorthamerica.org/Main_Page

If you want to totally geek out, keys to the Mosses of North America

bfnamenu

If you need more tag me @

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

International Plant Names Index - more useful if you already know what you are looking at.

International Plant Names Index

ipni.org

USDA Plants Database - it has lists of plants found in each state of USA.

USDA Plants Database

plants.sc.egov.usda.gov

The digital Library at the Missouri Botanic Garden

Botanicus.org - a freely accessible, Web-based encyclopedia of historic botanical literature

 

[darryl1]

I use the free iPhone app PictureThis. It's pretty amazing how it identifies species. Just snap a photo of the plant or a picture of the plant or use a picture already on your phone. It's like Shazam for plants. The free version works just fine - no need to pay for the Premium version.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I have found apps like "Picture This" to be wildly inaccurate. Or rather, you need to follow up. For example, if the app "Picture This" says you have a "Bursera fagiodes", you really need to visit another website, like Wikipedia, and see if the "Bursera fagiodes" is actually found in the part of the world that you took the picture. But using "Picture This" as a first approximation is not bad, but always check other references, because sometimes it is wildly wrong.