How do I identify ...a plant in my new yard? ...I found on a walk in the mountains?

Plant identification is tricky even under the ideal circumstances and is one of those tasks that the Internet is not the best suited to tackle. The Miller Library's Plant Identification Book List recommends a number of books that are useful.
http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/resources/booklists_data/plantid.pdf

If you'd still like to give the 'Net a try, check out the Plant Identification and Selection section of the Miller Library's Directory of Horticultural Web Sites.
http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/resources/hort_web_sites/plant_id.shtml

Trees of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon State University is very helpful at identifying the many majestic but very similar conifers of this region.
http://oregonstate.edu/trees/

What Tree is That by the National Arbor Day Foundation is a simplified key for identifying trees East or West of the Rocky Mountains. Not sure how to use a key? Try the animated key that walks beginners through the process.
http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeid.cfm

ID IT from the Dendrology department of Virginia Tech University has an "interview me" interactive key for common trees and some shrubs.
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/idit.htm

Northwest Native Plant Guide describes common native tress, shrubs, ferns and perennials found in the wild places of Washington
http://gardening.wsu.edu/text/nwnative.htm

For a layman's introduction to identification try Learning to Identify Plants by Families from the author of Botany in a Day, Thomas Elpel.
http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/Plant_Families/Patterns_in_Plants.htm

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Last modified:
Thursday, 10-Apr-2008 14:16:30 PDT