Cory Tanner or Tannerius coryi
Consumer Horticulture Agent/Master Gardener
Coordinator
Terminology
Botany: the science of plants
Taxonomy: the classification of plants
Vascular Plants
Ferns
Cone Bearing
Plants
Flowering Plants
Dicots
Monocots
Terminology
Gymnosperm – “naked seed”
 Has no flower or ovary (fruit); only cones
 All conifers (pines, cedars, arborvitae)
Angiosperm – “vessel seeded”
 Has a flower with an ovary (fruit)
 All flowering plants
 Divided into Monocots and Dicots
Terminology
Dicotyledons (Dicots):
- flowering plants that contain
two seed leaves
Monocotyledons (Monocots):
- flowering plants that possess
one seed leaf
Monocot
Dicot
Botanical Names
What’s Wrong with Common Names?
Catesby’s Trillium
or
Rosey Wake-robin
or
Bashful Wake-robin
Trillium catesbaei
Plant Classification
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Cultivar
Scientific Plant Names
 Binomial Nomenclature – 2-name system
 Genus species
 Developed by Carolus Linnaeus (1753)
 Always Latinized and italicized
 Usually very descriptive of the plant
Scientific Plant Names (cont.)
 Genus – a noun
 identifies a particular group of related plants
 First letter always capitalized
 species – typically an adjective
 identifies a distinct subset of the Genus
 all lowercase
Let’s try some!
White Oak
Quercus alba
Canadian Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis
Acer rubrum
Red Maple
Osmanthus fragrans
Fragrant Tea Olive
Scientific Plant Names (cont.)
When two names aren’t enough…
 variety – has traits that separate it from the species, but
not enough to be a new species
 Designated by var.
Cercis canadensis var. alba
 cultivar – “cultivated variety”
 A variety that arose in garden/nursery culture.
 Designated in single quotes with the first letter of each
word capitalized. Not italicized.
Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’
Scientific Plant Names (cont.)
What about hybrids?
Hybrid – results from cross-pollination between two
different species.
 Designated by an “x” between Genus and species.
Osmanthus x fortunei – Fortune’s Tea Olive
Hybrid between O. heterophyllus and O. fragrans
The Ultimate…
Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Atropurpureum’
Maple
Palmate
leaves
Leaves are
highly dissected
(threadleaf)
Leaves are
dark red/purple
AKA:
Purple-leaved Threadleaf Japanese Maple
Plant Identification
 It’s all in the details!!!
 Gather Information
1. Evergreen or Deciduous?
2. Tree, shrub, vine or herbaceous?
3. Leaf Arrangement
4. Leaf Morphology
5. Flower Arrangement and Morphology
Leaf Arrangement
The various ways leaves are arranged along the
stem is used to identify plants.
Leaf Morphology
• Venation refers to the pattern in which the veins
are distributed in the leaf blade
• Parallel or Net-veined
• Net-veined can be either pinnate or palmate
Acute - ending in
an acute angle
Acuminate tapering to a long,
narrow point
Obtuse - tapering
to a round edge
Truncate - having a
relatively square
base
Leaf Morphology
Shape of the leaf blade and the type of margin
are important in plant identification.
Entire - smooth
edge
Dentate teeth
pointed
outward
Serrate - having small teeth
pointed toward the apex
Lobed - incisions
extending less
than 1/2 way to
midrib
More to come…
Next Week – The wonderful world of soils!!!