List of potential species from the regional flora that will be presented this semester, alphabetically listed by family and then by genus. This list will be updated as needed.
ACERACEAE. Shrubs and trees with opposite leaves usually palmately lobed and veined, flowers small, often inconspicuous, fruit a pair of winged fruits (samaras).
Acer glabrum. Native shrubs or treelets of moist shady sites, with opposite simple leaves, inconspicuous flower (the flower is of other Acer species but are fairly close to the morphology of that seen in Acer glabrum), and winged fruit.
Acer negundo.
Native trees with opposite pinnately compound leaves, leaflets mostly 3-5,
margins lobed or with few large teeth, bundle scars 3, native to especially
riparian areas of lower elevations in eastern
AGAVACEAE. Monocot shrubs with large leaves in basal rosettes, leaves succulent or woody, spine-tipped, inflorescence a spike or congested raceme or panicle.
Yucca glauca. Native shrubs with woody spine-tipped rosette leaves, flowers whitish-yellow (ochroleucus).
ALISMATACEAE. Monocot forbs of wetland settings and often standing in water, sepals and petals in three’s (and petals usually bright white), but stamens 6-many and carpels many.
Alisma triviale. Native perennial forbs of wetland settings, flowers with many carpels (Google images).
AMARANTHACEAE. Annual forbs with compact arrangement of often many non-showy flowers, no petals and 3-5 sepals surrounded by bracts, the sepals and bracts dry and membranous and spiny tipped.
Amaranthus retroflexus. Native annual forbs common along road and trail sides and other similarly disturbed places, inflorescence spicate, flowers without showy petals.
ANACARDIACEAE. Trees and shrubs, leaves compound, flowers small and in compact spikes, fruits usually fleshy, reddish, and glandular.
Rhus trilobata. Native shrubs with leaves having 3 leaflets with lobed margins, flower small and in compact spikes, fruits reddish.
APIACEAE. Forbs with inflorescence an umbel, flower with an inferior ovary, fruit splitting into two sections (a shizocarp) and often held together by a forked extension of the pedicel (such fruits are termed mericarps).
Conium maculatum. Native tall perennials forbs with purplish blotches on stems, leaves highly dissected with many small leaflets, fruits ribbed all around.
Heracleum sphondylium. Native perennial forb of riparian or moist sites, with large leaflets and white flowers.
Lomatium ambiguum. Native perennial forbs of open sites and somewhat naturally disturbed soils, flowers yellow, the involucres and involucels are distinctively absent, leaves not as finely dissected as above.
Lomatium cous. Native perennial forbs, flowers yellow, involucels oblanceolate, leaves finely dissected.
Lomatium
triternatum. Native
perennial forb
of open sagebrush-grass sites, petals
yellow at anthesis during early summer, fruiting
by mid-summer, fruits with lateral
wings.
Osmorhiza occidentalis. Native perennial forbs with a licorice scent, fruits long and cylindrical, flowers mostly whitish (see the closely related Osmorhiza chilense from forested habitats).
APOCYNACEAE. Rhizomatous forbs, milky sap, leaves opposite, fruit derived from two ovaries that are fused at the base, forming two long follicles that are fused at base.
Apocynum androsaemifolium. Native perennial forbs, inflorescences of panicles, flower with fused petals, fruits attached only at base, dehiscing as a follicle (Google images).
ARACEAE. Monocots forbs of wet or shady settings, flowers congested onto a fleshy spike subtended or enclosed by a spathe.
Lysichiton americanus. Native perennial forbs of wetland settings, flowers on a spike enclosed in a spathe (Google images).
ASCLEPIDACEAE. Forbs with leaves simple and opposite, with milky sap (like Apocynaceae and Euphorbiaceae), flowers with fused reflexed petals, and stamens joined to each other and to the stigmatic region. Each stamen bears a hood and horn appendage (click on “Next” and “Previous” to walk through the photos illustrating the Asclepidaceae, which will allow you to put this flower into context).
Asclepias speciosa. Native perennial forbs inhabiting low depressions (e.g., ditches along road) at low elevations in open sites, flowers are arranged in terminal heads, with prominent hood & horn appendages (Google images).
ASTERACEAE. Shrubs and forbs, flowers in flower-like heads surrounded by distinct involucral bracts, ovary inferior, calyx often present as a pappus, disk and/or ray flowers present in a single head.
Achillea millefolium. Native perennial forbs, flowering heads with white ray petals, leaves pinnately compound and comprising lacy-fern-like segments.
Ambrosia acanthicarpa. Native monoecious annuals with pistillate heads bearing several series of involucral bracts over 3 mm long, inhabiting open somewhat disturbed arid sites (Google images).
Arctium
minus. Introduced biennial forbs,
flowering heads with hooked Velcro-like involucral bracts, basal leaves
typically very large (Google
images).
Antennaria microphylla. Native matted perennial forbes less than 0.5 ft tall, flowering heads with disk flowers only, typically white with papery (or rosy) colored involucral bracts, entire plant densely gray hairy (Google images).
Artemisia
absinthium. Introduced perennial
forbs usually 2-3 feet tall, flowering heads
with receptacle
hairs, basal leaf
bunch with large and dissected
into somewhat broad
segments (broad relative to close relatives such as Artemisia frigida).
Artemisia campestris. Native perennial forbs about a foot or so tall, basal leaf cluster usually distinct, stem leaves distinctly pinnatifid, like basal leaves, flowers like those of Artemisia dracunculus.
Artemisia cana. Native shrubs, heads discoid, flowers perfect at margin of head, leaves with a single-pointed tip.
Artemisia dracunculus. native perennial forbs 2-4 feet tall, heads discoid, flowers pistillate at margin of head, sterile at center, leaves not dissected and with a single-pointed tip.
Artemisia frigida. Native perennial forbs usually one foot or less tall, inflorescence with heads discoid and pendant, flowers pistillate at margin of head, fertile at center, leaves highly dissected into fine segments.
Artemisia ludoviciana. Native perennial rhizomatous forbs, stems scattered and usually one foot tall or less, heads discoid and bracteate, flowers pistillate at margin of head, fertile at center, leaves broad, unlobed to sometimes dentate or sparsely shallowly lobed.
Artemisia michauxiana. Native perennial forbs about a foot tall, erect stems emerging from numerous basal leaves, of open rocky sites at middle to subalpine elevations, narrow inflorescences.
Artemisia
pedatifida. Native shrubs of low
stature and leaves with narrow long divisions (Google images).
Artemisia tridentata. Native shrubs, head discoid, flowers perfect at margin of head, leaves with a tridentate tip. Three subspecies occur in the west, including Montana: A. tridentata subsp. tridentata grows at middle elevations in the western part of the state in deep soils of valley bottoms and is often well over 2 feet tall and with long ascending branches from the base and leaves narrowly tapering to a the base; A. tridentata subsp. vaseyana grows in middle elevations of the montane regions of the state and is 2-3 feet tall and usually with a flat top from which arise the inflorescences, A. tridentata subsp. wyomingensis grows at lower elevations in the eastern two-thirds of the state and typically is a rounded shrub less than 2 feet tall.
Aster ascendens. Native perennial forbs, inflorescences bracteate, flowering head with bluish ray petals, flowering head with some rays removed.
Aster falcatus. Native perennial forbs, inflorescences of white flowering heads, flowering head with some rays removed.
Bidens cernua. Emergent aquatic, native
annual forbs with
yellow ray and disk petals, the ray petals well developed, common in
Centaurea maculosa. An introduced short lived perennial common in open sunny and disturbed areas – not distinctive rigid hairs lining the margins of each involucral bract (Google images).
Chrysothamnus nauseuous. Native shrubs, stems with white felt-like covering, flowering heads conical or pyramidal, leaves narrow and grayish or broad and green glabrous (Google images).
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus. Native shrubs, stems without white felt-like covering, flowering heads mostly flat-topped, leaves broad and green glabrous with an undulating-twisting appearance (Google images).
Cirsium arvense. Introduced rhizomatous perennial forbs, fruiting heads with plumose pappus.
Cirsium
flodmanii. Native perennial forbs
mostly of the
Cirsium vulgare. Introduced biennial forbs of disturbed areas, involucral bracts bent outward, leaves minutely spiny above, typically of moist disturbed areas.
Erigeron
compositus. Native bunched
perennial forbs, ray petals white and disk petals yellow, leaves divided 2-3
times, open shrub-grass dominated sites from mid to high elevations (Google images).
Grindelia squarrosa. Native biennial forbs, involucral bracts recurved, pappus of two scales.
Gutierrezia sarothrae. Native perennial subshrub, heads with disk and inconspicuous rays, involucral bracts in several series, pappus of scale-like segments.
Helianthella uniflora. Native perennial forbs often in dense stands in open sites, stem leaves opposite at least at lower nodes, receptacle chaffy, pappus of awns.
Helianthus annuus. Native annual forbs usually weedy only along trails, roads, and sidewalks, stem leaves opposite below, alternate above, receptacle chaffy, pappus of awns (similar to Helianthella, above, but not the differences in the chaffy bracts on the receptacle.
Heterotheca villosa. Native perennial forbs, heads with yellow ray petals, involucral bracts in several series, pappus in two series.
Iva xanthifolia. Native annual forbs, inflorescences with male and female flowers in same head, male centrally located in head, female forming large dark achenes (Google images).
Lactuca serriola. Introduced annual forbs with an inflorescence of narrow heads (much narrower than those of Sonchus), and yellow-petaled flowers; leaves auriculate, fruits beaked.
Liatris punctata. Native perennial forbs, spicate flowering head, flowers with only disk flowers, fruiting heads with conspicuous plumose pappus.
Matricaria maritima. Introduced annual forbs commonly of roadsides, ray petals white, involucral bracts brown-margined, receptacle conical, leaves highly dissected, ray flowers white, receptacle conical.
Matricaria matricarioides. Native
annual forbs
with ray
flowers lacking, receptacle columnar, pappus lacking (a colonizing species
that is apparently native to
Rudbeckia occidentalis. Native perennial forbs, flowers with disk flowers only, longitudinal section of flowering head showing columnar receptacle.
Senecio canus. Native perennial forbs often forming mats or basal rosettes of basal leaves that were usually densely whitish hairy and with a long petiole leading to an elliptical leaf blade (Google images).
Solidago canadensis. Native perennial forbs with inconspicuous yellow ray flowers, a pappus of capillary bristles; a rhizomatous species lacking well developed basal leaves.
Solidago missouriensis. Native perennial rhizomatous forbs with or without a cluster of basal leaves, inflorescence dense with small flower heads, petals yellow, basal leaves with well developed lateral veins parallel to the midrib, as opposed to Aster ascendens and other look-alikes that don’t have the prominent straight, parallel lateral veins (Aster uppermost leaf, Solidago lower two leaves).
Solidago rigida. Native perennial forbs with well developed basal leaves during the summer and sometimes producing short-rhizomes, inflorescence dense with small flower heads.
Sonchus asper. Introduced annual forb with auriculate leaves, yellow petals, achenes longitudinally ribbed, and a pappus of capillary bristles.
Tanacetum vulgare. Introduced perennial forbs with an inflorescence comprising yellow flowering heads.
Tetradymia canescens. Native shrubs with densely white hairy leaves, individual flowering heads larger and less congested together compared to Chrysothamnus species (Google images).
Townsendia parryi. Native perenial forbs with typically a basal rosette of narrowly spatulate leaves, scapes bearing usually one flower with laver ray and yellow disk corollas (Google images).
Tragapogon pratensis (with long ray flowers) or Tragopogon dubius (with short ray flowers). Introduced biennial forbs, flowers with only ray flowers (note the short ray flowers relative to the length of the involucral bracts in the following five photos of Tragopogon dubius: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), fruiting heads greatly enlarging to accommodate the growth of the beak of the achene, pappus strongly plumose in fruit.
BALSAMINACEAE. Annual forbs of moist usually shaded places (stream side at low elevations in forest), peduncle attached to top of pendant flower, sepals three, the lowermost saccate to spurred.
Impatiens ecalcarata. Native annual forbs of stream sides in forest, sepals and petals yellow, flowers hang upside down, the lower sepal is not quite spurred (and thus is referred to as saccate).
BERBERIDACEAE. Shrubs and subshrubs with flowers with many yellow petals that are not differentiated from the sepals, fruit a berry, and leaves simple or compound but the leaves or leaflets with spiny serrated margins.
Mahonia repens. Native perennial subshrubs, flowers with yellow tepals.
BETULACEAE. Monoecious trees and shrubs, flowers in catkins, fruit a nutlet or samara, leaves often distinctly doubly serrate, bark often smooth and shiny (gray, brown, or whitish).
Alnus incana. Native shrub bearing woody pistillate catkins (older catkins are more woody), the new male catkins are distinctly herbaceous, the peduncles of the woody cones are shorter than the cone, fruits not winged, usually streamside (the ecological and morphological differences between these two Alnus species is subtle).
Alnus viridis. Native shrub bearing woody pistillate catkins, leaves with a doubly serrate margin, peduncles of woody cones longer than the cone, fruits winged, usually on slopes and cuts in hillside.
Betula occidentalis. Native shrubs to trees of shady sites, commonly riparian, the catkins are never woody, the leaves are doubly serrate, and the twigs are distinctly glandular.
BORAGINACEAE. Forbs with leaves simple, entire, and alternate, flowers radially symmetric and borne in helicoids cymes, tube and limb distinguished in the construction of the petals, ovary with four distinct carpels, each of which disperses as a separate unit (not all 4 may develop to maturity), stout hollow hairs on stems and leaves with swollen bases occur on many (not all) species of this family and may become distinctively coarse or even urticating in late summer or fall.
Anchusa officinalis. Introduced perennial or biennial, with bluish to purplish corolla tubes having the limb portion reflexed back and with white fornices (Google images).
Asperugo procumbens. Introduced weedy annual vine or sprawling forb, calyx enlarging in fruit and becoming laterally compressed, flowers minute and bluish, fruits typically of four parts but laterally compressed.
Cynoglossum officinale. Introduced weedy biennial forbs, inflorescences producing many flowers and fruits by growth of lateral helicoid cymes, corolla tube enclosed within calyx lobes, fornices well developed, fruit production copious and from four carpels each of which develops prickles and is ultimately shed as a single unit.
Cryptantha celosioides. Native perennial forbs of primarily sagebrush grasslands particularly in open exposed sites, stems typically solitary and erect from a simple caudex (portion of stem underground), petals bright white (Google images).
Lappula redowskii or Lappula myosotis. Native annual to biennial, petals mostly bluish, a common weedy species inhabiting disturbed sites usually in dry settings.
Lithospermum ruderale. Native perennial forbs, flowers with yellowish petals, corolla tube enclosed by calyx lobes, and showing the typical tube-limb condition of the family, fruits up to four very hard stony nutlets per flower, and these are attached from their base to the receptacle.
Onosmodium
molle. Native perennial forbs,
petals hairy
and mostly whitish with a faint greenish tinge, styles exerted,
open dry sites particularly in the eastern portion of
Symphytum
officinale. Introduced perennials
escaped from cultivation, large plants with many stem bunched together and 1-2
m long, corolla tube averaging about 2 cm long, purplish to bluish, and with a
limb that is not relaxed back (Google
images).
BRASSICACEAE. Forbs with flowers having 4 sepals, 4 petals, 6 stamens (two pairs, two singles), and one ovary with two compartments, fruits with two persistent placentas (replum) with a thin membrane stretched across them (the septum).
Alyssum alyssoides. Introduced annual to biennial forbs, petals yellowish, fruits compressed parallel to the plane of the septum (Google images).
Alyssum desertorum. Essentially the same as A. alyssoides but the fruit wall are glabrous (Google images).
Arabis nuttallii. Native perennial forbs, early summer flowering, petals white, fruits longer than wide (Google images).
Berteroa incana. Introduced perennial forbs, flowering from early spring to late fall, flowers with white petals, fruits somewhat inflated and bearing a long style (Google images).
Brassica nigra. Introduced annuals, flowers with bright yellow petals, fruits with a conspicuous beak (Google images).
Camelina microcarpa. Introduced annuals, petals pale yellowish, fruits spherioid (Google images).
Capsella bursa-pastoris. Introduced annual forbs, petals whitish, the distinctive obcordate fruits are compressed perpendicular to the plane of the septum (Google images).
Cardaria draba. Introduced perennial forbs forming dense stands and paniculate inflorescences with profuse small white-petaled flowers, fruits inflated (Google images).
Descurainia sophia. Introduced annual forbs commonly forming dense stands in disturbed sites, inflorescence spicate and bearing flowers with yellowish petals, leaves 2-3-times compound (Google images).
Draba oligosperma. Native perennial herbs, usually mat-forming, usually on rocky substrates at higher elevations (Google images).
Hesperis matronalis. Introduced perennial forbs to 1 meter tall or slightly taller, inflorescence spicate and flowers with usually purplish petals (Google images).
Lepidium campestris. Introduced annual forbs, petals light yellow, fruits not much longer than wide and compressed perpendicular to the plane of the septum (Google images).
Nasturtium officiale. A native riparian perennial with pinnately
compound (sometimes dissected) leaves and flowers with white petals (Google images).
Sisymbrium
altissimum. Introduced annual to
biennal, flowers with pale yellow petals and fruits born from a stout pedicel
are arranged in an open panicle (Google images).
Sisymbrium loeselii. Introduced annual to biennial, flowers with bright yellow petals and fruits born from a slender pedicel are all arranged as a cylindrical raceme (Google images).
Thlaspi arvense. Introduced annual forbs, flowers with white petals, fruits compressed perpendicular to the plane of the septum (Google images).
CAMPANULACEAE. Forbs with tubular flower with an inferior ovary, fruit a capsule (not a very distinct family because of much floral variation among the constituent genera).
Campanula rapunculoides. Introduced weedy perennial forbs producing tubers. See related native Campanula rotundifolia, which is a native perennial forb with bluish flowers (longitudinal section) also with an inferior ovary.
CANNABACEAE. Dioecious forbs and vines, sepals forming a cup in pistillate flowers, petals none, leaves serrate-margined and distinctly palmately lobed or compound.
Humulus lupulus. Introduced perennial vine with opposite leaves, dioecious, female flowers in axils of large imbricate bracts that collectively form the cone, hop crystals form at the base of these bracts.
CAPPARACEAE. Like Brassicaceae in terms of mustard oil chemistry and in having sepals and petals that are each four in number. However, the flowers have 6 to many stamens that are never in the paired condition found in Brassicaceae, and although the replum is present, the septum is always absent.
Cleome serrulata. Native annual forbs, common in dry open sites, usually rocky or sandy well-drained soils, or disturbed areas (e.g., road sides), inflorescence a spike of showy flowers with purplish petals, fruits long stipitate (Google images).
Polanisia trachysperma. A native annual forb that typically inhabits sandy well drained soils in open dry habitats, around 1-3 dm tall, flowers with white petals (Google images).
CAPRIFOLIACEAE. Mostly shrubs with opposite leaves, tubular petals that are slightly to strongly bilaterally symmetric, inferior ovary, fruits usually fleshy but not very edible, flowers and fruits in pairs (or clusters of pairs).
Lonicera tatarica (no specimens). Introduced shrubs escaping cultivation, paired flowers that are bilaterally symmetric, fleshy fruits that are paired.
Symphoricarpos albus (or Symphoricarpos occidentalis, a very similar species). Native shrubs considered aggressive or invasive of disturbed habitats, flowers occur in tight clusters of pairs (the style of S. occidentalis is longer and hairy compared to that of S. albus), the fleshy fruits are distinctively whitish.
Viburnum lantana. Introduced shrubs escaping from cultivation, opposite simple leaves with prominent ventation and distinctively dense whitish hairs especially on the under surfaces of the leaves, fruits are reddish to dark purple, not in Dorn but differs from Viburnum lentago by the distinctive covering of hairs on at least the lower leaf surfaces (Google images).
CARYOPHYLLACEAE. Leaves simple, usually opposite, petals (in many native species) mostly commonly 5 and then often strongly bilobed fruit a capsule and all of the ovules or seeds attached to a central column.
Arenaria congesta. Native perennial forbs, common in open sagebrush-grass habitats at middle elevations.
Cerastium arvense. (Google images).
Lychnis alba. Introduced perennial forbs of disturbed areas, flowers unisexual (Google images).
COMMELINACEAE. Monocot forbs with lily-like flowers but the sepals are green and the androecium (stamens) are ornamented or elaborated in a showy way, pollen- rather than nectar-rewards are made (like grasses rather than lilies), petals are thin textured and empheral (often a distinctive bluish or purplish in color).
Tradescantia occidentalis. Native perennial forbs of open grassy settings, flowers with purplish very thin textured petals well differentiated from the sepals (Google images).
CORNACEAE. Shrubs with opposite branching and opposite leaves, latex in leaves forming rubbery veins, lenticels on reddish wood (during fall and winter) conspicuous and abundant, flowers in cymes, flower parts in fours and ovary inferior, fruit a drupe (fleshy).
Cornus stolonifera. Native shrubs, reddish stems with whitish lenticels and opposite branching, the red coloration distinct especially during non-summer months, petals whitish, leaves opposite, veins lined with latex.
CHENOPODIACEAE. Forbs with often a compact arrangement of often many non-showy flowers, no petals and usually 5 united sepals, similar to Amaranthaceae but lacking the congested heads of membranous bracts and sepals, surface of leaves and stems sometimes distinctively scurfy, farinose, or mealy.
Atriplex gardneri. (Google images).
Atriplex patula. (wild orache). Introduced annual weedy forbs, inflorescence of congested flowers, flowers enclosed in twin bracts, leaves entire to lobed, generally greener above than below.
Ceratoides lanata. Native shrubs and subshrubs especially of the sagebrush steppe, plants covered in whitish woolly hairs (Google images).
Chenopodium
gigantospermum. Native annual forb
of disturbed sites, petals inconspicuous, sepals cupping the mature fruit in
this specimen.
Chenopodium watsonii. Native annual forbs, inflorescence paniculate, flowers radially symmetric, mature fruits dark and pitted, leaves generally smooth-margined.
Kochia scoparia. Introduced annual weedy forbs of disturbed areas.
CONVOLVULACEAE. Perennial forbs with alternate leaves (characteristically sagittate or hastate in many species), flowers solitary or in scorpioid cymes, petals tubular, like Solanaceae but the fruit is a dry capsule (rather than a berry).
Convolvulus arvense. Introduced perennials with sprawling twining stems, leaves hastate, flowers subtended by two small bracts, with tubular petals that are usually white or pinkish-purple (Google images).
CRASSULACEAE. Forbs with succulent stems and leaves, hypanthium with several ovaries that are fused towards the base.
Sedum
lanceolatum. Native rhizomatous perennials
of open sagebrush-grass vegetation, usually on gravelly or sandy soils, petals
yellow, leaves
on step and basal, fleshy.
CYPERACEAE. Forbs often of wetland and riparian settings, stems often 3-angled most conspicuously just below the inflorescence, in all cases the flowers arranged in spikelets and these with mostly spirally arranged florets.
Carex
rostrata (utriculata).
Native perennial riparian sedge forming dense stands and with spikes bearing
divergent florets (Google
images).
DIPSACACEAE. Forbs with opposite leaves, flowers in heads surrounded by involucral bracts, very similar to the Asteraceae, but the anthers protrude from the corolla and are free (not fused into a tube), and the achene is enclosed in an epicalyx (i.e., an achene-like fruit is not readily observed).
Knautia arvensis. Introduced perennials with opposite pinnatifid leaves, receptacle hairy, flowers pinkish, anthers free, pappus of awns, occasional in lawns, fields, and meadows with a disturbance history (overgrazed).
ELAEAGNACEAE. Trees and shrubs with opposite to alternate leaves always covered with silvery to rusty scale-like hairs. Flowers clustered in leaf axils and with 4 fused sepals and no petals.
Elaeagnus
angustifolia. Introduced trees
with furrowed
bark at the base and smooth silvery
bark higher up, branches with patches of silver
and brown, leaves
and stems covered with silvery scaly
hairs (upper
leaf surface with fewer scaly hairs), fruits
are dry drupes. Ornamentals commonly escaping especially into riparian sites.
Shepherdia argentea. Native shrubs of riparian sites, thorns common, leaves and stems opposite covered with silvery scaly hairs, fruits reddish. See the related Shepherdia canadensis: shrubs with opposite leaves, flowers inconspicuous, leaves and stems covered with rust-red scales).
EUPHORBIACEAE. Opposite leaves common, milky sap, flowers reduced to single stamens or single ovaries and these clustered in a cup-shaped bract that sometimes bears fleshy nectaries. The ovary is distinctly three-lobed and a single ovary is exerted out of the bract-like cup as it matures into a fruit.
Euphorbia esula.
Introduced erect rhizomatous perennial
of open sites, flower
bracts yellow
(Google images).
Euphorbia peplus. Introduced annual forbs
of disturbed sites, stems erect, 1-2 dm tall, known in
Euphorbia serpyllifolia. Native annual prostrate forbs of typically
gravelly or sandy soils of moderately disturbed settings (e.g., roadsides,
etc.; Google
images).
FABACEAE. Forbs with typically pinnately or palmately compound leaves, flowers bilaterally symmetric with a banner or standard petal, two wing petals, and a keel formed by the distal fusion of the two lowermost petals, filaments of stamens fused in various fashion, usually. Fruit a pod, usually dehiscent, with a single placenta along the upper margin.
Astragalus bisulcatus. Tall leafy bunched native perennials with spikes of purplish flowers and fruits with two parallel grooves on the ventral surface.
Astragalus cibarius. Native perennial
forbs growing low to the ground with ample leafy stems and broad veiny stipules
(Google images).
Astragalus drummondii. A native
perennial forb
of sagebrush-grass habitats, stems bunched, erect, 3-4 dm tall, petals whitish.
Astragalus falcatus. Introduced
perennial forbs with erect stems standing 2-3 feet tall on average, rare in
Montana and found so far only in Gallatin County (e.g., “M” parking lot area,
Porcupine Creek, and other sites where it may have been intentionally
introduced as forage), the small flowers with dull colored flowers are strongly
reflexed against the inflorescence rachis and the pods are triangular in cross
section and arcuate (Google images).
Astragalus gilviflorus. Small bunched native perennials with silvery trifoliolate leaves, flowering occurs very early during the summer and leaves persist until late summer and fall.
Astragalus miser. Perennial forbs forming patches via rhizomes or branched underground stems (caudex), leaves with narrowly elliptical leaflets and flowers with a pointed keel petal thought not beaked as in Oxytropis (Google images).
Coronilla varia. Introduced perennial forbs, common in lawnscapes on slopes and among shrubs, flowers with pinkish-purple petals, fruits breaking into transverse sections at maturity, stems sprawling and often 1 m long or longer.
Dalea candida. Native perennial forbs
with glandular punctuate pinnate leaves, each leaflet narry, and inflorescences
of cylindrical spikes, petals bright white (Google images).
Glycyrrhiza lepidota. Native perennial forbs, flowers with whitish petals, fruiting heads with spiny pods.
Lotus corniculatus. Introduced perennial forbs, common along
roadsides and in lawns, flowers with bright yellow petals, fruits breaking into
transverse sections at maturity, stems decumbent and usually less than 2 dm
tall (or nearly prostrate in mowed areas).
Lupinus argenteus. Native perennial forbs, flowers bluish in terminal inflorescences, leaves palmately lobed, a species that increases with overgrazing.
Medicago sativa. Introduced perennial forbs, flowers most often bluish purple, pods coiled.
Melilotus alba. Introduced annual forbs, flowers white, fruits small, reticulate-veined, and indehiscent.
Melilotus officinalis. Introduced annual forbs, leaves with three leaflets, flowers yellow, fruits small, corrugated-veined, and indehiscent (note the difference in pod sculpturing compared to the species above).
Onobrychis viciifolia. In introduced
cultivated perennial escaping along roadsides, petals pinkish and white
stripped, keel petal distally broad and blunt, pod small and single-seeded (Google images).
Oxytropis besseyi. Native perennial forb with no stems, leaves pinnately compound, flowers with purplish petals, keel petals with a distinct beak - a “point vetch” (Google images).
Oxytropis sericea. Native perennial forb
with no stems, leaves pinnately compound, flowers with whitish petals, keel
petals with a distinct beak (Google images).
Psoralea argophylla. Native perennial
forb with branched stems, leaves palmately compound, flowers with purplish
petals, keel petal blunt (Google images).
Trifolium hybridum. Introduced perennial forbs, leaves with three leaflets, flowers with usually pinkish petals, the head not subtended by an involucre, heads born from short peduncles (Google images).
Trifolium pratense. Introduced perennial forbs, leaves with three leaflets, flowers with usually reddish petals, the head of flowers subtended by a false involucre (stipules of subtending leaves), heads nearly sessile.
Trifolum repens. Introduced perennial forbs with creeping stems, leaves with three leaflets, flowers with usually whitish (red-tinted) petals, the head not subtended by an involucre, heads born from long peduncles (Google images).
Vicia
FAGACEAE.
Monoecious trees and shrubs with distinctly lobed leaves (the
Quercus macrocarpa. Native trees to gallery forests in eastern Montana but widely cultivated, female catkin developing a single terminal fruit, male catkin regular in appearance, leaves pinnately lobed.
GERANIACEAE. Herbs with palmately lobed and veined leaves, regular flowers with parts mostly in fives, fruit with 3-5 locules, these splitting apart and retracting up the style (mericarps somewhat similar to those of Apiaceae).
Geranium viscosissimum. Native perennial forb, flowers pinkish, ovary and mature fruits are distinctive (leaves sprayed with herbicide as a mistake?).
GROSSULARIACEAE. Shrubs with flowers having a well developed hypanthium from an inferior ovary, fruit a berry, always with palmately lobed leaves (photos of Ribes inerme).
Ribes americanum (wax current). Native shrubs of lower elevation riparian sites, hypanthium tubular, prickles and spines absent (a “current” – Google images).
Ribes cereum (wax current). Native shrubs of dry shady to open sites, hypanthium tubular, prickles and spines absent (a “current”).
Ribes lacustre. Native shrub of shady sites, side view of saucer-shaped hypanthium, an approximate top view of the hypanthium, palmately lobed leaf, fruit a berry, prickles and spines absent (a “current”).
Ribes setosum (inland gooseberry). Native shrubs of riparian sites, hypanthium tubular, prickles and spines well developed (a “gooseberry”).
HYDRANGIACEAE. Like Grossulariaceae or Rosaceae in having flowers with separate petals, many stamens, and an inferior ovary. However, the leaves are opposite, and the single ovary forms a woody persistent capsule.
Philadelphus lewisii. Native shrubs
of dry open rock sites particular in or near riparian areas, flowers
with four white petals, many stamens, and an inferior
ovary.
HYDROPHYLLACEAE. Like Boraginaceae in bearing coarse hairs and having on inflorescence of a helicoid cyme. However, the leaves are generally pinnately lobed or divided (but sometimes simple like Boraginaceae), the fused petals do not have the tube-limb construction, and the fruit from a single ovary is not divided into four nutlets. The habitat preference for this family is highly similar to Boraginaceae and includes open dry sites (e.g., both of these families are common in desert regions and sagebrush-grass habitats).
Phacelia hastata. Native perennial forbs
of open sunny habitats, sagebrush-grass to subalpine talus slopes, stems
bunched, stems ascending, not erect, 2-3 dm long, petals
light purplish.
HYPERICACEAE. Leaves simple, opposite, and sessile, typically with embedded translucent (punctate) glands (readily seen by holding up to the light), flowers with five yellow petals and many stamens, the single over developing into a capsule in which the three compartments (locules) are usually distinct.
Hypericum perforatum. An introduced perennial forb common to road sides, along trails, in overgrazed pastures, and other similarly disturbed settings, averaging about 3 dm tall, with stout persistent stems that are usually rusty brownish in color, flowers with bright yellow petals and many stames (Google images).
IRIDACEAE. Monocot forbs with radially symmetric lily-like flowers but the ovary is inferior and often the showy sepals and petals are augmented by showy petaloid stigmas.
Iris missouriensis. Native perennial forbs of open usually meadow or moist settings, flowers with showy petals, petaloid style branches, and sepals, ovary inferior (Google images).
LAMIACEAE. Forbs with leaves simple, entire, and opposite, and with serrate margins typically, stems squarish, flowers usually bilaterally symmetric and born in axillary and/or terminal clusters, ovary with four distinct carpels, but not separating at maturity, hairs on stems and leaves not becoming coarse or urticating. Like Verbenaceae but the leaves and stems have a minty or otherwise conspicuous odor, and the leaves are never deeply lobed or divided like they can be in Verbenaceae.
Dracocephalum parviflorum. Native annual-to-perennial forbs of sagebrush grasslands, bilaterally symmetric flowers with a purplish corolla and four stamens, common in Gallatin County and much of western Montana.
Galoepsis tetrahit. Introduced annual forb with flowers having pinkish petals and spiny tipped calyx lobes (Google images).
Mentha arvensis. Native perennial forbs with axillary clusters of small nearly radially symmetric flowers each bearing bluish petals.
Monarda fistulosa. Native perennial forbs with a terminal cluster of flowers each bearing pinkish petals, the opposite leaves and square stems of this species are diagnostic of the family (Google images).
Nepeta cataria. Introduced perennial forbs with terminal clusters of flowers each bearing mostly whitish petals, the lower corolla lobes are typically fused and conspicuously the largest compared to the upper lobes, four-lobed ovaries and the square stems and opposite leaves are typical of the mint family.
Prunella vulgaris. Introduced perennial forbs with a terminal cluster of flowers each bearing dark pink petals, the opposite leaves and square stems are diagnostic of this family.
Salvia nemorosa. Introduced bunched perennial forbs with long showing inflorescences bearing flowers with purplish petals, the two stamens have anthers attached to a very well developed connective (Google images).
LEMNACEAE. Floating to submerged aquatic species in which stems and leaves are reduced to a thallus or frond.
Lemna minor. Native floating aquatic forbs, each floating “thallus” bearing a single root (Google images).
LILIACEAE. Monocot forbs with mostly radially symmetric flowers where the sepals and petals are similar is size, texture, and coloration (except Calochortus and Trillium, which have green sepals).
Allium
brevistylum. Native
perennial forbs with a tuber or corm rather than a bulb at the base of the
stem, tepals pinkish purple (Google images).
Smilacina stellata. Native perennial forbs (Google images).
Tillium ovatum. Native perennial forbs with usually three whorled ovate leaves per stem just under the usually single flower with green sepals and white petals (Google images).
Triteleia grandiflora. Native perennial forbs with grass-like basal leaves and similar sepals and petals fused in the basal half into a tube (Google images).
Veratrum viride. Native perennial forbs with stems 2-6 feet tall formed by overlapping leaf sheaths, leaf blades large and ovate, infloresence branches spreading and drooping and tepals greenish (Google images).
Zigadenus elegans. Native perennial forbs with grass-like basal leaves and terminal racemes of flowers with cream-colored tepals the bear a prominent greenish nectar gland (Google images).
LINACEAE. Annual to perennial dicot forbs with typically many narrow stem leaves and radially symmetric flowers bearing five usually ephemeral petals, the flower with all parts in five including the single ovary with 5 styles and 5 compartments.
Linum lewisii. Native perennial forbs with many small narrow strap-shaped leaves all born from the stem in a spiral arrangment, internodes short (Google images).
LOASACEAE. The flowers with a combination of whitish to yellowish separate petals, numerous stamens, and an inferior ovary producing many seeds are distinctive of Loasaceae, which are all forbs with alternate leaves covered with barbed hairs (note the sand-paper feel to the leaves).
Mentzelia decapetala. Native perennial forbs, flowers with 10 white petals, many stamens, and an inferior ovary, and leaves with short coarse hairs.
LYTHRACEAE. Forbs with opposite leaves (in Montana).
6. Lythrum salicaria. Introduced perennial forbs of riparian settings, superficially like a mint but with regular flowers bearing separate petals (Google images).
MALVACEAE. Forbs and shrubs with generally palmately lobed and veined leaves, often bearing stellate hairs somewhere on the plant, staminal filaments united into a tube surrounding the style, fruit often circular and splitting into many wedge-like pieces (similar to cheese wedges).
Iliamna rivularis. Native perennial forbs, inflorescences of racemes, flowers with pink petals, cross-section of the flower reveals the tube formed by the filaments of many stamens, fruits dehiscing along radial lines, leaves palmately lobed.
Malva moschata. Introduced perennial forbs with large flowers bearing whitish to pinkish white petals (Google images).
Sphaeralcea coccinea. Native perennial forbs, inflorescences of usually short racemes, flowers with orangish petals and many stamens fused into a tube, leaves and other plant parts with stellate hairs.
OLEACEAE. A diverse group of trees and shrubs with opposite simple to compound leaves and dry winged or capsular fruits.
Fraxinus pennsylvanica. Native dioecious trees with opposite pinnately compound leaves, leaflets mostly 5-7 with entire or usually serrate margins, bundle scars more than 3, samara fruits not paired and born in clusters, from riparian areas of lower elevations in especially eastern Montana (Google images).
ONAGRACEAE. Forbs with flower parts in fours, ovary inferior and commonly splitting along 4 lines of dehiscence (seeds are hairy only in the genus Epilobium).
Epilobium angustifolium. Native perennial forbs, spike inflorescence, stamens maturing before the receptive stigma (protandrous), fruits dispersing seed covered with cottony hairs (comose seeds), splitting by four valves or sections (the last is a photo of Epilobium paniculatum).
Epilobium ciliatum. Native perennial forbs, fruits dispersing seeds (photo of E. angustifolium) covered with cottony hairs, with diagnostic four valves or sections of the fruit wall.
ORCHIDACEAE. Monocot forbs with bilaterally symmetric flowers (positioned upside-down, resupinate), the lower petal often with a spur or saccate architecture and the most showy of the petals and sepals, stamens united with style into a pollinium.
Habenaria dilatata. Native perennial forbs (Google images).
POACEAE. The grass family with flowers arranged in spikelets where each spikelet is delimited by two basal glumes that enclose one or more florets, and the florets comprise a lemma, palea, and flower.
Agropyron repens. An introduced rhizomatous perennial often forming dense stands with lax broad leaves and bearing a terminal bilateral spike and glumes and lemmas with a short awn (Google images).
Agrostis stolonifera. An introduced rhizomatous perennial often forming dense stands with short narrow leaves and bearing a terminal panicle of very small spikelets (2-3 mm long), glumes with a distinctively scabrous midrib (Google images).
Alopecurus arundinaceus. An introduced rhizomatous perennial that can form dense stands in riparian areas or well irrigated fields, with a cylindrical spike of many small spiklets that disarticulate from the main rachis in order form the distal to proximal end (Google images).
Avena fatua. An introduced bunched annual colonizing recently disturbed sites such as crop fields and edges of roads and trails, with an open panicle of large spikelets each containing several florets with in turn bear long bent awns from the back (Google images).
Bromus inermis. An introduced rhizomatous perennial often forming dense stands with broad lax leaves and bearing a terminal panicle of large spikelets (1-3 cm long), glumes and lemmas with a short awn or awnless (Google images).
Calamagrostis stricta. A native rhizomatous perennial of riparian and wetland sites, individual stems are terminated by a contracted or spicate panicle, often with a feathery appearance because each tiny spikelet includes a single floret each bearing long hairs (as long as the floret) from the base (Google images).
Catabrosa aquatica. A native perennial often floating aquatic grass with broad leaves that are often transversely wrinkled (corduroy) when they first emerge, with an open panicle of small spikelets each containing usually two widely spaced florets (Google images).
Festuca pratensis. An introduced bunched perennial often forming large clumps sometimes extensively so and with broad lax leaves with large auricles and bearing a terminal narrow panicle and glumes and lemmas lacking awns or with very short awns (Google images).
Triticum astivum. An introduced cultivated annual occasionally escaping or planted along roads and trails or over recently burned areas, with a wheatgrass spike and a single spikelet at a node, each with broad asymmetric glumes and 3-4 large florets (Google images).
POLEMONIACEAE. A
family common to open dry shrubby sites (e.g., deserts of
Ipomopsis aggregata. A native (biennial) perennial forb of open sagebrush-grass sites, petals pinkish.
POLYGONACEAE. Sheathing stipules present (except in the genus Eriogonum) as a membrane surrounding the stem adjacent to the petiole, flower parts in three’s, 3 outer tepals, 3 (or 2) inner tepals, even when a total 4-5 tepals the flowers still have a three-angled appearance. Fruit a three-sided achene, seed usually sharply three sided.
Eriogonum umbellatum. A native perennial forb, common in mountain big sagebrush habitats, flowers yellowish.
Polygonum achoreum. Native annual forbs
with small axillary
flowers and sheathing
stipules (characteristic of the family), of disturbed sites particularly along trails and roadsides, similar to
the species below but with broader leaves and stems bending upward at the
distal end.
Polygonum aviculare. Introduced annual (to perennial) forbs also with small axillary flowers and sheathing stipules but this species is on average prostrate.
Polygonoum convolvulus. Introduced viney annual forbs, flowers small and with whitish-green tepals, occasional in moist or shady disturbed areas around buildings or cultivated fields, rare in native vegetation.
Rumex crispus. Introduced perennial forbs, the flowers with the outer tepals reflexed (bent backward), stems with sheathing stipules, fruiting stalks conspicuously rusty red in late summer and fall, fruits with callus thickenings or bumps.
Rumex maritimus. Native annual to bienniel, inhabiting margins of ponds, rivers, and streams particularly in muddy flats, stems usually less than 3 dm tall.
POTOMOGETONACEAE. Monocot forbs, submerged or floating aquatics, usually having broad leaves with a midrib and 2 or more prominent parallel later veins, inflorescence a spike of non-showy flowers.
Potamogeton crispus. Native perennial floating to submerged aquatics (Google images).
RHAMNACEAE. Trees and shrubs with simple alternate usually toothed leaves, the leaves commonly with three primary or terminal lateral veins in a trident pattern, flowers small and with stamens opposite the petals.
Ceanothus velutinus. A native shrubs with evergreen leaves having a prominent palmate-pinnate venation, the flowers have clawed petals that appear as small soup ladles.
Rhamnus cathartica. Introduced trees and tall shrubs, leaves and branches consistently subopposite, flowers small and greenish, leaves with secondary veins pinnate but in a palmate fashion where the distal-most veins form a trident, once known from only Missoula County but now much more widespread.
RANUNCULACEAE. Herbs with flowers often having many free flower parts at least in regard to stamens and sometimes pistils, ternately compound leaves are somewhat common in this family, nectaries born on petals (sometimes within the petal spurs), commonly very similar to Rosaceae but this family never forms flowers with a hypanthium or leaves with stipules.
Ranunculus acris. Introduced perennial forbs with stems to 0.5 m tall, in meadows of middle elevations, basal leaves strongly divided into usually 4-5 segments, petals yellow.
Ranunculus glaberrimus. Native perennial forbs common to sagebrush
grasslands, flowering during the spring or early summer, less than 1 dm tall, petals
yellow.
ROSACEAE. A highly variable family morphologically and ecologically, flower with hypanthium, the nectaries are born from the inside bottom of the hypanthium, ovaries and stamens commonly many (excepting the pome and drupe producing genera) like Ranunculaceae (this latter family never produces the well-developed stipules and floral hypanthium of the Rosaceae).
Amelancheir alnifolia. Native shrubs of open dry to shady moist habitats, flowers with showy white narrow petals, the fruits are pomes, leaves are serrate distally, buds are small with hairy scales.
Cercocarpus
ledifolius. Native shrub
of dry rocky sites, petals whitish but mostly inconspicuous, hypanthium grows
to cover the base of the mature plumose
achene.
Cotoneaster lucidus. Shiny cotoneaster. Introduced shrub that escapes from cultivation into native vegetation where other shrubby Rosaceae predominate (not known as escaped from cultivation when Dorn was published and thus this genus is not treated in Dorn), flowers are small and with whitish petals, fruits are dark purplish pomes, the leaf blades have a distinct hairy surface with prominent venation and the stipules are linear, and the leaves turn reddish in the fall.
Crataegus douglasii. Native shrubs typically in and along drainages, petals white, fruit (a pome) reddish, thorns less than 3 cm long.
Fragaria vesca. Native stoloniferous forbs of open meadows or moist understory, petals white, fruit reddish.
Geum macrophyllum, native perennial forb of meadows and other moist sites and having its basal leaves pinnately compound but with a terminal leaflet that is distinctly large, flowers with yellow petals and fruits developing long hooked style tips, which is characteristic of the genus Geum.
Geum triflorum. Native perennial forb of open sagebrush-grass dominated sites, inflorescences with nodding flowers, petals whitish to reddish, stamens and ovaries many, fruits with elongate feathery styles.
Oemleria
cerasiformis. Indian plum. A
native understory shrub
of the
Pentaphylloides floribunda (Potentilla fruticosa). A native shrub, often used as an
ornamental, petals yellow, common to open shrubby sites at middle to higher
elevation in western Montana. Often persisting in overgrazed sites.
Physocarpus malvaceus. Native shrubs usually of dry understory or on slopes of north aspect, flowers with white petals, fruits of follicles, often persistent on the shrub, bark striate, leaves palmately lobed.
Potentilla glandulosa. Native perennial forbs
common to to meadows at mid-elevations in western
Potentilla gracilis. Native perennial forbs usually in sites with abundant grass, differening from below in having yellow petals and basal leaves with long-petioles, and typically not consistently hirsute on stems.
Potentilla recta. Introduced perennial forbs with erect stems, basal leaves absent and stem leaves with short petioles, whitish yellow petals, stems with many leaves and hirsute hairs.
Prunus virginiana. Native trees and shrubs of typically riparian habitats, flowers in racemes, fruits of drupes, bud scales glabrous and with a light-colored leading edge.
Purshia tridentata. Native shrubs
of open sagebrush-grass habitats, usually at lower elevation in
Rubus idaeus. Native shrublets with pinnately compound leaves (usually three leaflets) and with long and slender stem prickles and reddish fruits (Google images).
Rubus parviflorus. Native shrublets or subshrubs, flowers with large white petals, producing an aggregate fruit.
Sorbus aucuparia. Introduced trees now commonly escaped from cultivation (but not known as such when Dorn was published), fruits orangish, bark smooth and shiny, gray to coppery (Google images).
Sorbus scopulina. Native treelets or shrubs, old flowers showing hypanthium (in x-section) of developing fruits, mature fruits reddish orange, bud scales large and hairy.
Spirea betulifolia. Native perennial subshrubs of dry understory settings, stems usually unbranched, flowers with whitish petals, fruiting heads with usually 5 follicles per flower (follicles dehisce along the placental suture), distally serrate leaf margins.
RUBIACEAE. Leaves opposite to whorled (stipules when present shared between two leaves thus giving the appearance of two additional leaves), petals small and fused, calyx inconspicuous, ovary inferior and distinctly two-lobed.
Galium aparine. Introduced annual forbs, scandent (not viney but climbing on adjacent vegetation), stems with retrorse stiff hairs, flowers with white petals, ovary inferior and two-lobed, leaves whorled.
Galium boreale. Native perennial forbs, flowers with white petals, ovary inferior and two-lobed, leaves whorled.
SALICACEAE. Trees and shrubs with simple alternate leaves, unisexual flowers in catkins, plant dioecious, fruits of capsules containing many hairy (comose) seeds.
Populus acuminata. Native tree, leaves narrow, petioles long and grooved on the upper side (Google images).
Populus alba. Introduced tree now commonly escaped from cultivation (but not known as such when Dorn was published), leaves palmately lobed and white woolly underneath (Google images).
Populus angustifolia. Native tree, leaves narrow, petioles short.
Populus balsamifera. Native trees with wide leaves, the blades of which gradually taper to the petiole that is terete (round not grooved in x-section), buds with sticky resin (Balm of Giliad).
Populus deltoides. Native trees with wide leaves, the blades of which abruptly taper to the petiole, the petiole is laterally flattened like that of Populus tremula and Populus tremuloides.
Populus nigra ‘italica’ (no specimens). Introduced
cultivated trees
with wide
leaf blades
and petioles
similar to those of Populus deltoides (upper
and lower
surface), but the tree has distinctly ascending
branches that result in a columnar
canopy, and a leaf that is more triangular in shape and usually without
the hastate (truncate) base.
Populus tremuloides. Native trees forming clonal stands, bark white even in age, leaf blade abruptly tapers to the petiole, similar to those of Populus tremula and Populus deltoides, the petiole is laterally flattened like those of Populus deltoides and Populus tremula, buds also with sticky resin, fringed flower bracts in catkins characteristic of the genus Populus.
Salix bebbiana. Native shrubs with reddish stems, leaves whitish below, stems dark red and hairy, catkins with capsules born on long pedicels.
Salix boothii. Native shrubs with yellowish stems, leaves greenish below, stems not hairy, catkins with capsules born on short pedicels.
Salix exigua. Native shrubs along streams and seeps, branching erect, leaves linear.
Salix fragilis. Introduced trees with yellowish stems (pronounced coloration not during the summer) and leaves whitish below, plant staminate in this area.
Salix geyeriana or Salix lemmonii (if leaves glaucous on under surface). Native shrubs with linear leaves and small catkins, twigs pruinose (glaucous), leaves lighter beneath.
Salix lasiandra. Native (and cultivated) tall shrubs and trees, leaves usually green below, catkins long and slender, glands along the petiole near the base of leaf blade.
Salix lutea. Native shrub common to lower elevation riparian areas in Montana, but also to higher elevations, similar to Salix boothii (e.g., stems glabrous and greenish to yellowish depending on age) but the leaf blade is whitish underneath, usually does not gradually taper to the petiole, and the stipules are usually well developed.
Salix scouleriana. Native shrub similar to Salix bebbiana (e.g., lower leaf surfaces are whitish and distinctly reticulate-veined) but this species occupies dry sites and the leaves are obovate (with a broadly rounded apex).
SANTALACEAE. Rhizomatous perennials, partially parasitic, flowers with fused 5 tepals, ovary inferior.
Commandra umbellata. Native rhizomatous perennial forbs, small flowers with non-showy tepals, ovary inferior, one of the more common species of the sagebrush steppe.
Thesium arvense. Introduced rhizomatous perennial forbs, flowers with tiny white tepals, ovary inferior, flowers are born on upper surface of the tridentate leaf, an unusual trait (Google images).
SCROPHULARIACEAE. Leaves usually simple leaves (with a notable exception of those genera such as Castilleja and Pedicularis that have dissected leaves and petals in which the upper two form a distinctive hood) that are typically entire and alternate (but Mimulus and Penstemon with opposite leaves), flowers bilaterally symmetric, corolla tube usually two-lipped (with two upper lobes and three lower lobes), fruit a capsule from a superior ovary and containing many seeds.
Castilleja cristagalli. Native perennial
forbs of open
dry understory of montane forests in southwest
Castilleja miniata. A native perennial of riparian or moist sites, usually in the mountains, with greenish entire leaves contrast with reddish inflorescence bracts, flowers with petals mostly yellow.
Castilleja pallescens. A native perennial often found in the sagebrush steppe adjacent to pine forests, petals yellow and galea not much longer than lower lip (Google images).
Collinsia parviflora. An native annual common the sagebrush steppe and often growing under shrubs (Google images).
Linaria vulgaris. Perennial forbs, flowers with yellow petals, and the lower portion of petal tube is spurred.
Mimulus guttatus. Native perennial riparian forbs (photo is of related Mimulus tilingii) of riparian sites at usually middle elevations, lacking rhizomes, petals yellowish (see open corolla and close up of anthers).
Mimulus lewisii. Native perennial riparian forbs with large flowers bearing usually pinkish-purple petals (Google images).
Orthocarpus
luteus. Native annual forbs of open dry sites with narrow often divided
green leaves contrasting against the yellow corolla tube (Google images).
Orthocarpus tenuifolius. Native annual forbs of open dry sites with narrow leaves contrasting with broad pinkish inflorescence bracts, flowers have yellowish to pinkish petals.
Penstemon erianthus. Native perennial forbs of dry sunny exposed sites, early summer flowering, petals lavender, (see open corolla and close up of anthers), the fruit is the typical many-seeded capsule of the family.
Penstemon
procerus. Native perennial forb of
open sagebrush or other shrub dominated sites, petals bluish-purple.
Verbascum
Veronica
Veronica biloba. An introduced annual common to newly disturbed sites as might be found along road sides (Google images).
SOLANACEAE. Flowers commonly in cymes, flower tube often open and usually radially symmetric, fruit a capsule or berry but with many ovules/seeds.
Hyoscyamus
Solanum dulcamara. Introduced perennial vines of moist habitats (low to high elevations, open to shady sites, etc.), flowers and fruits arragned in a helicoid cyme, flowers generally bluish, stamens opening by terminal pores, fruit a yellow or red berry.
TYPHACEAE. Large grass-like herbs of marshes and other moist sites such as road ditches, plants monoecious with the spicate staminate inflorescence positioned immediately above the pistillate spike on the same rachis, flowers with a pappus-like calyx and a stipitate ovary.
Typha latifolia. A native perennial herb characteristic of the family (Google images).
ULMACEAE. Trees with distichous leaves arranged in a single plane, leaf margins doubly serrate, leaf base asymmetric, fruit a samara with two tips (from the two styles).
Ulmus
Ulmus pumila. Introduced trees with distichous leaves as above but with more diffuse distal branching and smaller leaves, and the buds are spheroidal.
URTICACEAE. Hirsute forbs (nettles with urticating hairs), plants monoecious or dioecious, sepals united, leaf margins serrate and like Cannabaceae but leaves not palmately lobed or compound.
Urtica dioeca.
Native perennial forbs
of moist sites, leaves opposite and with strongly serrate margins, monoecious
with pistillate
flowers above the staminate
flowers.
VALERIANCEAE. Like Lamiaceae but leaves compound or with at least prominently lobed or divided margins, inflorescences commonly of terminal open cymes.
Valeriana occidentalis. Native perennial forbs of mostly mountain meadow settings (Google images).
VERBENACEAE. Like Lamiaceae but leaves compound or with at least prominently lobed or divided margins, inflorescences commonly of long spikes bearing both flowers and long bracts for the entire length.
Verbena bracteata. Native annual forbs, flowers arranged in bracteate spikes and with bluish petals, fruit of nutlets similar to those of Lamiaceae.
Verbena hastata. Native perennial forbs inhabiting riparian areas or moist meadows at low to middle elevations. stems solitary and erect, about 2-3 feet tall, sometimes considered invasive, petals bluish-purple (Google images).
VIOLACEAE. Mostly perennial forbs (in temperate regions) with mostly basal leaves born from long petioles, flowers bilaterally symmetric, solitary on each peduncle.
Viola
nuttallii. Native perennial forbs with elliptical leaf blades and flowers
with yellow petals, common in open shrub-grass dominated settings (Google images).
Viola
orbiculata. Native perennial forbs with orbicular leaf blades and flowers
with yellow petals, common in forest understory (Google images).
ZANNICHELLIACEAE. Submerged aquatics with
very narrow opposite leaves without a midrib and lacking conspicuous stipules.
Zannichellia
palustris. The only genus and species in
