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Tips and Tricks

    Here are some of my personal tips and tricks for flower identification.

    Look closely to detail

    All plants vary slightly within their own species. Because of this, identifying them can sometimes be difficult. It is helpful when identifying plants to look at several of the same type. This will help you to better understand how the particular plants grow and vary from each other.

    Edible and Medicinal plants

    There is always a risk of misidentifying plants. Hemlock, for example, looks a lot like Wild Carrot. If you chose to eat or use plants in any medicinal way you do so at your own risk and you are responsible for the outcome. It is always safer to leave the plants alone.

    Scientific names/ Genus and Species

    These are used to identify plants in a universal way. Scientific names are in Latin. Genus and species names are always italicized. When you are trying to look up plants it really helps if you use their Latin names. If you do not know its Latin name you can always try its common name.

    Common names

    These names are what anyone uses to identify plants. They vary greatly from region to region. Common names can be changed over time. Because of this there are often many different names for the same plant. Sometimes the names are even interchanged with other plants.