Plant Identification
Common plants in your field office area and
how to identify them.
Common Names and Scientific Names
All plants have one scientific name, but can have several common
names, even in the same geographic location. Botanists typically use
the scientific name as it is unmistakable about which plant one is
talking about.
For example, Calamagrostis canadensis is a common grass throughout
Alaska but can also be called red top, bluejoint grass, bluejoint reed
grass, marsh reed grass, Canada bluejoint, feather reed grass, and
Canadian reed grass, to name a few.
Common Names and Scientific Names
Binomial nomenclature
A scientific species name is made up of two parts. They
include the genus (Calamagrostis) and the specific
epithet (canadensis).
Together they make up what we call the species.
Scientific names are often underlined and italicized,
with the genus being capitalized and the specific
epithet remaining lower case.
Plant growth forms
Trees: Grasses:
Perennial, woody, grow from the Annual or perennial, herbaceous,
tips and buds of branches. round, hollow stem with narrow,
Grow taller than 30’ linear leaves
Shrubs:
Perennial, woody, grow from tips Forbs:
and buds of branches. Annual or perennial, herbaceous,
Grow under 30’ in height, may be grow up from the ground every
very small year. They typically have wide
leaves (not grass-like)
Herbaceous vs Woody
When we call a plant
“herbaceous” it means that the
plant grows from its roots in the
spring (perennial) or from a seed
(annual).
Their growth is soft and fleshy and
the above ground growth dies
back each fall.
Herbaceous vs Woody
A woody plant is one that builds
on the growth from the previous
year and puts on additional
growth in its branches. A woody
plant grows from buds on its
stems that it sets each fall.
Annual and Perennial
This is Bromus
If a plant grows from a seed tectorum, or
every year and lives only one cheatgrass, an
season (it does not regrow annual grass.
from the roots of the previous
year), it is said to be an
“annual” plant.
Annual plants typically put all
their effort into flowers and
making seeds. They usually
make a high number of seeds. By Jan Kops - www.BioLib.de, Public Domain
Annual and Perennial
If a plant grows from its previous
year’s growth (from roots in the case
of herbaceous plants or from buds on
stems in the case of shrubs and trees)
it is said to be a perennial plant.
Perennial plants typically put growth
efforts into roots and current year’s
vegetative growth as well as flowers
and seeds. Angelica lucida or wild celery is an
herbaceous perennial plant common in
coastal Alaska. It has thick, deep roots.
Flowers
All plants have flowers and they
are important for proper
identification.
Generally the non-botanist will
start with learning plants based
on their appearance and won’t
be dissecting the flowers to
make an identification.
Grasses
• Round stem
• Linear leaf venation
• Hollow stem
• Conspicuous but
atypical “flower”
Forbs: • Showy Flowers
• Herbaceous
• Wide leaves with
non-linear
venation
Shrubs
• Woody stems
• Perennial
• Non-linear leaf venation
Where to Start with Plant Identification
Your Office Plant List
Your field office has a list
of the most important
plants to learn.
Initial species to focus on
are highlighted in blue.
The list includes native
species and invasive
species at the bottom.
Where to Start with Plant Identification
References:
References to help you include:
• Your co-workers
• Flora of Alaska by Eric Hulten
• Other guidebooks in your field office library
• The internet and the website plants.gov
• For invasives in Alaska:
https://accs.uaa.alaska.edu/invasive-species/non-native-plants/
