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Archive for the ‘Plant Identification’ category
Adirondack Flora and Fungi Video
February 22, 2011Watson, Jeopardy, and Plant Identification
February 16, 2011I just returned from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy where I watched IBM’s Watson computer compete against humans in a game of Jeopardy. The huge auditorium of the EMPAC building was full of people (mostly students) interested in watching the competition on the big screen and listening to the panel of experts, alumni from RPI, who were responsible for designing and programming Watson. One of the panelists said that even though supercomputers like this were great at gathering information and answering questions in the Jeopardy format, they are still a long way from being able to do the same thing with audio or visual clues. I can attest to that personally since I use voice software everyday and the programmers still have not figured out how to come up with the right homonym in context. It got me thinking about when supercomputers would be smart enough visually to identify plants as well and as fast as a trained botanist. There are projects out there that identify plants visually, one using mainly tree leaves, and others that would read the DNA bar code of plants to identify them. Some groups of plants might be easy to identify but when you get down to grasses, sedges, willows, hawthorns and other difficult groups you might have a real challenge on your hands.
One of the panel members was asked why compete on Jeopardy. He explained that after they finished beating chess world-champion Garry Kasparov with the supercomputer Deep Blue they needed a new challenge. One night after discussing this they saw everyone rush out to a bar to see Ken Jennings compete on Jeopardy. They figured that would be the next big challenge; to show how far computers have come with their information-gathering power. So far the humans are no match for Watson (although Watson confused Toronto as an American city in final Jeopardy). I think one of the next big challenges for IBM would be to visually identify a wide variety of plants faster than our best botanists (with a supercomputer called Linnaeus?). I think that might take awhile. – Steve Young
The panel discusses Watson at the EMPAC before the show. Photo Steve Young
Upcoming bryology workshops
January 21, 2011There are three upcoming bryological courses and excursions this spring! They’re not being held in our region, but many bryophytes are quite cosmopolitan so it’s likely that you’d encounter species that occur in New York. Certainly the lab skills and camaraderie would be worth the trip.
Intermediate Bryology will be offered by Dr. David Wagner on the University of Oregon campus on March 21-23. The objective of this workshop will be a fairly intensive practice using the contemporary keys pertinent to the area. Most of the time will be spent in the teaching lab, with an afternoon excursion on the first day for field experience. Time will be available for participants who bring personal collections to work on them under expert supervision. Tuition is $300. Contact Dr. Wagner for more information (541-344-3327 / davidwagner@mac.com).
The 16th Annual SO BE FREE foray will be held in the lower elevations of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains near Quincy, California on March 23-26. The area offers great sites for montane coniferous, mixed coniferous-hardwood forests; canyon oak forests; rocky outcrops; and chaparral, all in the steep North Fork of the Feather River canyon. There will be flat trails and roadside areas to visit for easy access. Bryophyte diversity will span from California’s spring ephemerals, bryophytes of springs, streamlets, and rivers to the great diversity found on rocky outcrops. Beginning bryologists are welcome, and they are planning some special activities for beginners, as well as serious fieldtrips that will be exciting for the hard-core. CLICK HERE for more info.
An Introduction to Bryophytes will be offered by Dr. Stephen Timme in the botany lab on the Pittsburg (Kansas) State University campus on April 2-3. It is designed to provide an introduction to basic characteristics and techniques for identification of some of the more common species found in the prairie, oak/hickory forests, and rock outcrops in the central U.S. Techniques will include the proper use of the microscope, free-hand sections, terminology, and making semi-permanent mounts. The workshop will be topped off with a field trip. Contact Dr. Timme for more information (417-658-5473 / slt@pittstate.edu).
New Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada
January 11, 2011
A website is now available for the New Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Visit this website to find out more about this exciting project which is being organized by Rob Naczi of the New York Botanical Garden.
Minnesota Wildflowers Website A Good Resource For New York Too.
December 31, 2010The Minnesota Wildflowers website, http://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/page/home, has many beautiful photos and lots of information about wildflowers that also occur in New York. You just may find that missing photo to help you identify a plant you discovered in New York.
Great Website for the Systematics and ID of Moonworts, Botrychium subgenus Botrychium
October 16, 2010Dr. Donald Farrar from Iowa State University has a website with detailed information and factsheets on the moonworts. This is a valuable resource for anyone that comes across these botanical gems in the field. For the website CLICK HERE.
The rare Botrychium minganense near Syracuse. Photo Steve Young.
Is Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris) Native or Exotic? It’s both!
August 3, 2010I always thought that Prunella was exotic but it is listed as native in Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. As it turns out there are two varieties and one is native (var. lanceolata) and one is not (var. vulgaris). In the NYFA Atlas David Werier sets forth the history of this distinction:
Numerous early botanists recognized Prunella vulgaris as consisting of at least two taxa. One is considered to be native to North America (P. vulgaris var. lanceolata) and the other as native to Eurasia (P. v. var. vulgaris). Fernald (1913b) gives an overview of how these taxa have been treated in North America, provides a key to the varieties, and publishes the new combination P. v. var. lanceolata (W.P.C. Barton) Fernald. Fernald (1950) and Gleason and Cronquist (1991) follow this taxonomy while Mitchell (1986) and Mitchell and Tucker (1997) treat Prunella vulgaris as a non-native taxon without infraspecific taxa. A limited study from California (Nelson 1964) supports the distinction between the two taxa and also demonstrates support for a limited amount of introgression or hybridization at one California population. We follow Fernald in recognition of two taxa but a modern large scale study is still warranted. The North American native taxon (P. vulgaris var. lanceolata) has median cauline leaf blades ovate to ovate-oblong, 1.5-2.5 (avg. 2) times as long as wide, and rounded at the base. The Eurasian P. vulgaris var. vulgaris has median cauline leaf blades lanceolate to oblong, 2-5 (avg. 3) times as long as wide, and cuneate at the base (Fernald 1913b).
It would be nice to know if the distribution differs in range or ecology in New York so you might want to try to distinguish them in the field. Be sure to use the leaves in the middle of the stem for the measurements. See the Atlas entry for the species HERE.
Hudsonia – Woody Plant Identification and Natural History in Winter
June 24, 2010November 5, 2010 — Woody Plant Identification and Natural History in Winter
- Learn how to use keys to identify trees, shrubs, and woody vines in winter condition
- Acquire identification skills that are useful for, e.g., wetland boundary delineation, surveys for rare species, habitat identification, reviews of land use proposals, and landscape design
- Examine the identification characters of many species in the field
- Browse a collection of books about the identification and ecology of northeastern woody plants
- Learn how herbarium specimens can be used as reference for identification of new material
- Discover facts about the natural history and human use of various species
- Learn where some of the rare woody species occur, which woody plants are useful indicators of environmental conditions, and how certain invasive nonnative species are troublesome in our region.
This workshop is designed for biologists, environmental professionals, horticulturists, and students who already have some field experience with woody plants and want to develop their abilities to identify woody species in winter using twigs, buds, leaf scars, pith, bark, and other winter identification characters. The workshop emphasizes hands-on observation and practice with plants in the field, specimens, hand lens, keys, and field guides.
Course instructors Erik Kiviat PhD and Gretchen Stevens have 40 and 30 years of experience, respectively, with the northeastern woody flora in winter condition.
Lunch and snacks will be provided. Tentative location: Bard College Field Station, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Course materials (books, 10x hand lens) will be for sale at the site. We expect to use Muenscher’s Keys to Woody Plants revised by Cope (2001), and G. Petrides, A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs 2nd ed. Several binocular dissecting microscopes will be available.
Course fee $275 payable to Hudsonia Ltd by check or credit card (full fee due 15 October, early registration fee $250 by 1 September). Call Linda Spiciarich 845-758-0600 or email spiciari@bard.edu to register.
New Plant ID Apps for the iPhone and iPad
March 28, 2010If you haven’t looked lately at the Apps available on iTunes there are more and more plant identification guides available. Here is a list of the ones I have found as of September 2012. Click on links for more info:
Florafolia – Native Plants of the Northeast $3.99
Audubon North American Wildflowers $9.99
Botany Buddy – Tree and Shrub Finder $9.99
Landscapers Companion $9.99
Flower Pedia – Garden and Wildflowers $4.99
Wild-Flower – Wildflowers of France and Western Europe $4.99
North Woods Wildflowers $0.99
Flora of the British Isles $16.99
Wildflowers of Cedar Breaks National Monument
Flora Italiana Free
MyNature Tree Guide $6.99
Key to Woody Plants of Wisconsin Forests Free
Common Mushrooms of North America Pictoral $3.99
Wild Mushrooms of North America and Europe $1.99
Tree Id – British Isles $3.99
Winter Tree Id- British Isles $3.99
Wild Flora of Central Europe $7.99
OrchidID – British Orchid Identifier $3.99
What do you know – Botanical Edition $0.99
TreeID – North American Trees $0.99
What Tree is That? $4.99
Trees PRO HD – North America and Europe $0.99
Australian Wildflowers $2.99
Plant Finder Italian Flora $2.99
US Trees $0.99
eTrees of North America $9.99
eFlowers of Eastern North America $7.99
Colorado Plants $0.99
Wildflowers of Central Texas $2.99
Wild-flowers of France and Western Europe $4.99
Northwest Mountain Wildflowers (US) $9.99
Santa Monica Mountains Wildflowers Free
Great Smokey Mountain Wildflowers $4.99
California Wildflowers $9.99
Wildflowers of the Western Plains $9.99
Wildflowers Along the Way – Central and Southern Appalachians $9.99
Sierra Nevada Wildflowers $9.99
Joshua Tree National Park Wildflowers $9.99
Death Valley Wildflowers $9.99
Plants of San Gabriel Mountains $12.99
Alpine Flowers (German Alps) $4.99
Flora EU – Wildflowers of Europe $5.99
Wild Orchids Borneo $2.99
Iberian Orchids $2.99
Some of these are good, some not so good. Read the reviews and please comment if you have these and recommend any one of them. If they work they ought to be awesome on the iPad. All new field guides should be made available for the iPad and Little, Brown and Company should think about publishing Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide for the iPad with updated taxonomy. – Steve Young
- Image from Wildflowers Along the Way – Wildflower ID for the Central and Southern Appalachians
NYFA Flora Atlas Search Tip
November 18, 2009Instead of typing the whole scientific name in for a species, just type the last 3 letters of the genus followed by a space and first 3 letters of the species. This will generate a list of one or a few species that you can click on.
New York Flora Association Blog 