An article by Pat Breen, Oregon State Univ., Dept. of Horticulture describing common characteristics of plants that are useful in identifying them.
Archives: Recommended Websites
King County DNR: Native Plant Nurseries for the Pacific Northwest
This listing of retail and wholesale nurseries and stores was compiled by the Water and Land Resources Division of King County, Washington for your convenience. The list draws in part on the Hortus West Native Plant Directory and the journal Hortus West.
Interactive Keys – Descriptions, Illustrations, Interactive Identification, and Information Retrieval from DELTA Databases
This site makes available numerous data sets of plants and animals that work with a free program called IntKey. First download and install this small program, then download a data set such as Grass genera of the world or Flora of China, which will trigger the program to run. By selecting certain traits, such as leaf shape, non-conforming taxa are eliminated.
Flora of North America
FNA’s mission statement reads: “FLORA of North America (FNA) is a project undertaken by North American botanists to provide authoritative, up-to-date information on the names, relationships, characteristics, and distributions of the approximately 21,000 species of plants that grow outside of cultivation in North America north of Mexico.” This extensive database of North American plants is organized by family, then down the line by genus and species. The information provided includes a detailed botanical description, citations to selected references, line-drawing images, which can be enlarged to positively identify the plant, and relevant links.
Amherst, University of Massachusetts, Soil Testing
University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Laboratory (relatively inexpensive)
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
The Xerces Society is a science-based conservation organization and international nonprofit. The society’s work focuses on protecting pollinators, conserving endangered species, and advocacy. The website contains an extensive publications library which includes technical reports for scientists, planting guides for homeowners and the biannual journal Wings. There are also resources specially designed for teachers and students.
Rx For The Wounded Tree
A pamphlet by the US Forest Service on preventing, identifying and caring for tree wounds.
Green Seattle Partnership
“The Green Seattle Partnership coordinates restoration projects to care for our urban forest and bring people into the parks to build community through hands-on volunteerism.” The website has a database with map to find volunteer opportunities.
Successful Container Gardening
This publication from University of Illinois Extension covers the basics of growing plants in pots, and also includes sections on topiary, “blueprints” for container designs, and how to make a hanging basket.