Field Identification of Wildflowers

Stephen G. Saupe
 Biology Department
College of St. Benedict/St. John�s University
(this handout was prepared for a presentation to Master Gardener's)

A.  Field Guides:  Among the excellent guides to wildflower identification are:

• Courtenay, Booth & J. H. Zimmerman. 1978. Wildflowers and Weeds. Fireside Books.
• Ladd, D and F Oberle. 1995.  Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers.  Falcon, Helena, MT.
• Moyle, J. and Moyle. 2001. Northland Wild Flowers: A Guide for the Minnesota Region.  Revised Edition. Univ. of Minnesota Press.
• Newcomb, L. 1977. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide. Little, Brown and Company, NY.
• Peterson, RT and M McKenny. 1968.  A Field Guide to Wildflowers.  Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
• Runkel,  and Roosa. 1989. Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest. Iowa State University Press.
• Vance, FR, JR Jowsey & JS McLean. 1984. Wildflowers of the Northern Great Plains. Univ. of Minnesota Press.

B.  Web Sites:

• University of Minnesota Herbarium (http://biosci.cbs.umn.edu/herbarium/)
• DNR Ecological Services (www.dnr.state.mn.us/ecologicalservices/pubsheritage.html)
• Flora of North America (www.fna.org)
• CSB/SJU Bailey Herbarium (www.csbsju.edu/herbarium)

C.  Technical Literature:

• Gleason, HA and A Cronquist.  1991.  Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada.  2^nd edition.  New York Botanical Garden, NY.
• Morley, T. 1969.  Spring Flora of Minnesota.  University of Minnesota Press, Mpls (and UM Department of Botany).

D.  Using the Technical Literature:  requires understanding of floral/fruit structures

insert diagrams here