Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Anyone? I'm amazed how hard this has been to find, and what I have found is IMO not done well at all. In fact I'd do it myself if I had the time and plant expertise. But often I'm somewhere around the neighborhood and see something and although I've seen numerous times before, don't know what it is. You think there'd be such a site.....
I don't know of any site, and I've been poking around trying to find a site that would identify a tree at my house. Anyone know?
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee87/freesiia/IMG_0356.jpg (broken link)
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee87/freesiia/IMG_0357.jpg (broken link)
There is no one good place that identifies all North American shrubs and trees. It is probably because different regions have very different growth and it would be a huge task to collect it all. very often Aggie schools and Cooperative extensions for the area are a good starting point. Google is a good source if you persist and know what you are looking for.
How would you suggest that a website ID plants? I've seen experienced horticulturalists disagree about a plant that they had in their possession. To just list all the trees and shrubs is little help. To post thousands of pics to sift through could yield some results for some people after considerable time looking.
If a site asked you if the leaves were pinnate, could you answer?
What about if the leaves were opposite or alternating?
You could break it down by region for starters, and/or general type. This doesn't have to be rocket science. eg first have separate areas for bushes vs trees, and you could have various options to click like light vs darker green, does it produce berries or not, etc. A few simple choices could narrow the field considerably.
Again I'm just looking for common types. Most of what I see in the area are the same of perhaps several dozen diff schrubs, if that; hardly thousands.
I've searched as I said (ie google) and the results were amazingly weak.
You could break it down by region for starters, and/or general type. This doesn't have to be rocket science. eg first have separate areas for bushes vs trees, and you could have various options to click like light vs darker green, does it produce berries or not, etc. A few simple choices could narrow the field considerably.
Again I'm just looking for common types. Most of what I see in the area are the same of perhaps several dozen diff schrubs, if that; hardly thousands.
I've searched as I said (ie google) and the results were amazingly weak.
While this seems pretty simple, I'll just take the categories you state and play devil's advocate.
There is no real distinction between bushes and trees - they are all woody plants and many plants lie somewhere in the middle. Say you are looking at a dwarf crape myrtle that's currently 3 feet tall. Is that a mature cultivar that won't get much bigger? Is it a mature one that has been pruned every year to be that tall? Is it a young one that was recently planted, but will reach 30 feet? Is that a "tree" or a "shrub?"
"Light" versus "dark" is very subjective and on many shrubs the new growth is light, while the old growth is darker. So it would depend on what time of year you are looking at it. Answer that question incorrectly and you have narrowed your choices incorrectly.
Berries are also seasonal. Also many plants that "have berries" don't get berries without a male plant around, or until they are more mature. The plant you are trying to id may not have berries, but be in the category "produces berries," but is too young, at the wrong time of year, or doesn't have a male around. So answering that question incorrectly would be very easy - narrowing down your field to an incorrect one.
I think your self-admitted lack of knowledge makes this task seem much more simple to you than it actually is. After all, you can make rocket science seem easy, right? A jet on the back of a rocket - how hard is that?
If you want to know the most common trees and shrubs in your area, go to a local nursery and look around.
For those in FL - Floridata is a great site with information on all sorts of stuff that grows around here. It's not set up as an identification site, but it does sort plants into categories and I am usually able to find what I am trying to identify. For other areas of course Floridata will be less useful or possibly no use whatsoever.
What you are looking for is called an "identification key". You do need to be able to answer questions about the plant you are trying to identify so you might need some vocabulary help. Here is a simplified example I found for trees in Arkansas:
Try this link for starters. The larger national growers like Monrovia have plant catalogs. Monrovia is huge in the Western United States. Sunset Western Garden Handbook has literally thousands of pictures and illustrations of plants, trees and flowers. Monrovia - Plant Catalog
There is no real distinction between bushes and trees - they are all woody plants and many plants lie somewhere in the middle.
Actually there is a distinction, relying mostly on height and a single or dominant stem/trunk vs multiple. True, there is an overlap/gray area, but the vast majority aren't in it.
Quote:
"Light" versus "dark" is very subjective
True, that may not be a good way to categorize - I was just throwing out examples off the top.
Quote:
Berries are also seasonal.
Again: I was just giving examples of possible ways to break it down. And it's largely about how it's approached.
Quote:
I think your self-admitted lack of knowledge makes this task seem much more simple to you than it actually is. After all, you can make rocket science seem easy, right? A jet on the back of a rocket - how hard is that?
Well I'm no expert, but I'd say you aren't either, given you didn't know the diff between a tree and a bush. I guess the diff is I admit it.
That aside, yeah, it could be fairly simple, at least to start, and it needn't be perfect or all-inclusive; that's why I said "common bushes/trees." eg you could just have it just broken down by regions and then have a list of many of the most common for a start, and build on it as able. Again, you could probably have several dozen trees and bushes listed initially vs thousands, and for most areas, that would cover most of the more common things around......eg for this area, trees like oaks, maples, and fruit trees; for bushes, boxwoods, junipers, etc.
Again it's all in how it's done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art123
If you want to know the most common trees and shrubs in your area, go to a local nursery and look around.
...or places like Lowes etc. Good idea, and I have done that at times, it is a good place to start. But it's not a be-all/end-all...plus sometimes I'll be out and see something and wonder what it is and don't feel like driving to a nursery to find out - and they might not have it anyway...that's why it would be great to have such a site.
Go there. Post the pictures and tell them where you live.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.