PRIMGHAR, Iowa — One of the most common weeds that nearly everyone can identify on sight is a dandelion. Their bright yellow flowers are one of the first signs that summer is coming and also provide the first food source for pollinators. Picture a blooming dandelion. Why do you know that plant in particular is a dandelion? What makes you so sure? Initially, when learning plant identification, my answer was this: “Because of the way it is.”
By taking a closer look at the characteristics of plants we already know, plant identification is a fun and potentially new topic for you to explore.
As mentioned above, the bright yellow flower is one of the easiest ways to spot a patch of dandelions throughout the growing season. Another key characteristic is how the leaves grow – outward in a circle around a central growing point (a basal rosette). However, another plant has these same identifiers but is extremely different from the friendly dandelion. Wild Parsnip has a bright yellow flower and a basal rosette growth pattern, but while dandelions can be harvested and eaten in a variety of ways, wild parsnip contains an oil that will react with sunlight to cause intense skin burns. This is an excellent example of why plant identification is not only an interesting subject, but also an important one. While it is no longer necessary to know which plants are entirely edible for survival, I highly encourage those new to plant ID learn the plants that may cause them harm.
When observing a new plant to identify, there are a few key characteristics to note: flower, leaves, growth pattern and the presence of hair anywhere on the plant. There are several more categories to identify new plants, but these are the best to know well right away. Using a dandelion, here is how those categories would look with ID notes:
- Flower: Yellow to orange, composite head
- Leaves: Simple and deeply lobed
- Growth pattern: Basal rosette above a single taproot
- Presence of hair: Absent i.e. glabrous
There are many technical terms that go into plant identification, but much like the identifications themselves, these are best learned through time and repetition. To become familiar with methods used in identifying, start with plants you see every day or are already familiar with. Take your time, find an identification guide that works for you and start discovering an entirely new world.
— Dawn Henderson, Former Horticulture Program Coordinator
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
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