Identification
It seems to be one of the most elementary urges of man to want to know what the different kinds of things are of which his environment is composed. Even primitive people have names for kinds of birds, fishes, flowers and trees, and the species recognized by them are usually exactly the same ones recognized by the modern taxonomist.
This simplified key is based on obvious characteristics and relies on the reader's interpretation of features of flowers, stems and leaves and on the observation of colors. Use of terms such as "dandelion-like" and "violet-like" assume familiarity with well-known flowers. The key should be considered a guide to groups of flowers rather than a tool (as most keys are) to determine the exact species.
Albinism, the loss or deficiency of coloring in plants with non-white petals, occasionally occurs in alpine plants. Almost every species with red, blue or purple flowers produces albinos. The phenomenon seems to be rarer in yellow- and orange-flowered plants. Albinos are ordinarily interfertile with non-albino parental types and the resultant offspring can be intermediate forms. Albinos are not keyed as white-flowered plants but as plants with the usually colored flowers.
1. Non-flowering, spore producing, plants........................................................................................................ 2
1. Flowering plants.............................................................................................................................................. 3
2. Ferns or fern-like .................................................................................................... Ophioglossaceae, p. 4-47
Ernst Mayr
The Growth of Biological Thought
KEY
2. Not fern-like
Polypodiaceae, p. 4-51 Lycopodiaceae, p. 4-45 Selaginellaceae, p. 4-74
3. Flower parts 3 or multiples of 3; leaves grass-like and parallel-veined 3. Flower parts 4 or 5 or multiples of 4 or 5; leaves not parallel-veined..
Monocots, p. 4-1 ......Dicots, p. 4-2
MONOCOTS
1. Flowers conspicuous, showy.......................................................
1. Flowers inconspicuous, usually crowded on stem.....................
2. Stems solid; plants usually of wet habitats; sedges and rushes
.................Liliaceae, p. 4-41
........................................... 2
.............Cyperaceae, p. 4-28
Juncaceae, p. 4-37 Graminae/Poaceae, p. 4-34
2. Stems hollow; plants of all habitats, grasses
4-1
