Wood Frog Eggs: Wildflowers

Elizabeth Osborne

22 August 2013
5:30 PM

Ashland Nature Center
Hockessin, DE

On Wednesday night, we learned how to use Newcomb's Wildflower Guide to identify wildflowers.

Last night, we put our knowledge to the test in the meadows around Ashland.

There are three elements to consider when using Newcomb's system. The first is the flower itself: Is it regular, with radial symmetry? Below are some examples of regular flower arrangement.

Maybe the flower is not radially symmetrical--think of an orchid. It has top and bottom parts that look different from one another. Here's an example of an irregular flower:

Finally, the flower may have parts indisinguishable, which just means so many petals that you really can't tell whether they're symmetrical or not. Here's what one of those might look like:

You go to Newcomb's guide and assign the mystery plant a number based on whether the petals are regular, irregular, or indistinguishable.

The next thing to look at are the leaves. Are there any? If so, are they only at the base of the stem? If not, are they alternating? This is what alternating leaves look like:

Alternating leaves

If the leaves are not alternating, they may be opposite or whorled. Opposite leaves grow directly across from one another; whorled leaves grow on the same spot all around the stem.

Opposite leaves (left) and whorled leaves (right; imagine that they are all on the same plane)

Finally, once the leaf pattern has been ascertained, look at the leaves themselves. Are they entire, with a smooth margin, and growing one per stem, like the ones in the picture below?

Are the leaves toothed on the outer edges?

Toothed leaves

Or do there seem to be smaller leaflets all making up one leaf? That is, is the leaf divided?

Divided leaf--smaller leaflets making up one big leaf

Answering these questions one by one, you can get to a section in the first part of the Guide that suggests what flower you might have. For example, the flower below is radially symmetrical. It has four regular parts; its leaves are alternating and entire.

Using the numbers associated with each of these classifications leads to a number of 132. Under this number, there is a "yellow flowers" option. Going to the page listed for the yellow flowers, you find that this is seedbox (Ludwigia alternifolia).

There are two exceptions to Newcomb's system: goldenrods and asters (daisies). Unfortunately, if you don't know what goldenrods or asters look like beforehand, you might get confused; fortunately, goldenrods and asters are easy to spot: goldenrods are golden, and asters look like daisies.

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