Download plant identification - Arizona Section, Society for Range Management

Native Range 101: January 24, 2013
John A. Kava
Rangeland Management Specialist
Natural Resources Conservation Service
PLANT IDENTIFICATION
PLANT ID
Why is it important
 Categorizing plants
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 Growth
Forms
 Life Span
 Season of growth
How to use a dichotomous key
 Helpful books and other resources
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Dichotomous Key
Exercise
A. Is individual wearing blue jeans
A. Is individual wearing boots
A. Is individual wearing a belt buckle the size of a dinner plate?
B. Is individual wearing a normal belt buckle
A. Is individual wearing a hat
A. Hat has a brim extending the entire circumference
B. Hat has a brim extending toward the front only
B. Individual is not wearing a hat
B. Is individual wearing loafers or sneakers
A. Is individual wearing glasses
B. Individual is not wearing glasses
B. Individual is wearing short pants
WHY IS PLANT IDENTIFICATION IMPORTANT
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Compare to Ecological Site Description
 Determine
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Help to determine trend
 Multiple
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condition of range site
monitoring events
Use for other management decisions
 Utilization
– what plants are being grazed
CATEGORIZING PLANTS
Growth Forms
 Life Span
 Season of growth
 Origin
 Forage value
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GROWTH FORMS
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Grasses
Grass-like
Forbs
Shrubs
GRASSES
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Most important and
abundant kind of range
plant
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Cover more than 1/5th of
the earth’s land surface
Jointed stems
Stems are hollow between
the joints (nodes)
Leaves are in 2 rows
along the stem
Veins in the leaves are
parallel
GRASS-LIKE PLANTS
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Look like grasses but
have solid stems
without joints
Stems are often
triangular
Veins in the leaves are
parallel
Includes sedges and
rushes
FORBS
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Herbaceous plants
Broad leaves and showy
flowers
Above-ground growth dies
back each year
Veins in the leaves are net
veins although some forbs
have veins that are
parallel
Range wildflowers and
weeds
SHRUBS
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Woody plants with
several main stems
Usually have broad
leaves
Often referred to as
“browse”
LIFE SPAN

Length of time from the beginning of
development to death of the plant
 Annuals
– live for one growing season
 Winter
annuals
 Summer annuals
 Biennials
– live for two growing seasons
 Perennials – live from one year to the next
SEASON OF GROWTH

Cool Season
 Make
most growth in cool weather of spring and fall
 Flower mostly in early summer
 Provide spring/fall forage at lower elevations and
summer forage at high elevations
 Adapted to cool, wet conditions
SEASON OF GROWTH

Warm Season
 Make
most growth in warm summer periods
 Flower from mid-summer to early fall
 Provide forage in summer months
 Adapted to hotter, drier conditions
PLANT CATEGORIES

Examples
 Native
warm season perennial grass – sand muhly
 Native cool season perennial grass - squirreltail
 Introduced cool season annual grass – cheatgrass
 Native warm season annual grass – delicate muhly
 Biennial forb – dandelion, New Mexico thistle
 Native perennial shrub – rabbitbrush, range ratany
 Introduced annual forb – halogeton (ws), russian
thistle (ws), filaree (cs)
ONE OTHER THING . . . A NEW LANGUAGE
Spikelet
Inflorescence
Node (joint)
Internode
Blade
Ligule
Collar
Auricle
sheath
Stolon
Rhizome
Grasses of Southwestern United States, Gould
TERMS (FOUND IN GLOSSARY)
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Acuminate
Acute
Attenuate
Ciliate
Convolute
Decurrent
Distally
Entire
Erose
Flexuous
Geniculate
Glabrous
Glaucous
Hirsute
gradually tapering to a sharp point
sharp pointed but less tapering than acuminate, angle less than
90 deg
gradually narrowing to a slender apex or base
fringed with hairs on the margin
rolled longitudinally
extending downward from the point of attachment
opposite point of attachment
Whole with a continuous margin
irregularly notched at the apex, appearing gnawed or eroded
bent alternately in opposite directions; a wavy form
bent abruptly, like a knee
smooth without hairs
covered with powdery or waxy bloom as a plum or cabbage leaf.
with straight rather stiff hairs
RESOURCES
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Arizona Range Grasses, Ruyle, G. B. and Young D.J
Grasses of Southwestern United States, Gould, Frank, W.
North American Range Plants, Stubbendieck, Hatch,
Landholt
North American Wildland Plants, Stubendieck, Hatch,
Landholt
Arizona Flora, Kearney and Peebles
http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/
USDA Plants - http://plants.usda.gov/java/
RESOURCE
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USDA Plants http://plants.usda.gov/java/
HTTP://CALS.ARIZONA.EDU/YAVAPAIPLANTS