Finding a plant\u2019s correct name can be challenging. It helps if the gardener enjoys The Search.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s consider broad categories of searches for a plant\u2019s name: the gardener knows (or might know) the plant\u2019s genus, the gardener knows (or might know) the plant\u2019s common name; and the gardener has no information at all about the plant.<\/p>\n
Given the plant\u2019s genus, finding the species and ideally the cultivar might begin with a plant reference book, such as Sunset\u2019s \u201cWestern Garden Book,\u201d or the American Horticultural Society\u2019s \u201cA to Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants.\u201d\u00a0Another approach involves searching the Internet. Wikipedia, which holds information on nearly all plant genera, is a valuable resource for such searches. Browse to Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org), enter the genus and scroll to the list of species. Whether using a book or the Internet, identifying the species of a given plant requires reviewing the options and deciding which aligns with the features of the plant in question.<\/p>\n
Another option is the National Gardening Association\u2019s searchable Plant Database (garden.org\/plants\/, which includes some 728,000 plants.<\/p>\n
When the gardener knows the plant\u2019s common name, some reference books will include a list of common names with links to the botanical names. Still, searching the Internet for the common name is the easier approach.<\/p>\n
For the more popular garden plants, search the Internet for the respective society and look on its website for a searchable list of cultivars. Good examples include the American Rose Society, the American Iris Society, and the Pacific Bulb Society. There are many other such societies. Visit the website of the American Horticultural Society and search for \u201csocieties by plant type.\u201d<\/p>\n
On occasion, the gardener will have absolutely no information about a particular plant and wants to identify it.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Pseudopanax_ferox_kz4-CU.jpg?resize=200%2C300\")
<\/a>Fierce Lancewood<\/p><\/div>\n
That situation arose recently when a reader sent a photo of a strange-looking plant. In such cases, I draw upon the collective knowledge of participants in the National Gardening Association\u2019s Plant ID Forum<\/a>, which is a free resource.<\/p>\n To my delight, the Forum participants soon identified the plant as Pseudopanax ferox\u00a0(Fierce Lancewood, or Toothed Lancewood), which is native to New Zealand.\u00a0I soon learned about the plant by searching for it on the Internet.<\/p>\n With a little research, you can identify the mystery plants in your garden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Inevitably, we encounter plants without knowing what they are, i.e., we don’t know their names. That\u2019s hardly surprising because there are so many different plants. When botanists count the flowering plants, called angiosperms, which we appreciate in our gardens, they … Continue reading