How about starting for free? You could get a library book, or probably find a second-hand flower guide at a used book store. Learning the defining characteristics is a heck of a good start: it is satisfying to recognize the family characteristics to understand when you're looking at a member of the Caryophylaceae and not Campanulaceae. Many people would be happy to recognize a genus (a snapdragon from a pansy) and that's a great way to start: characteristics for plant families are often as obvious as characteristics that define animal families, and getting to genus is not much more difficult. It will take more work to identify to species.

It’s possible to identify many plants with nothing more exotic than a 10x hand lens and a book or two (no one book is going to answer all your questions). Of course it will require pretty good vision to see the tiny parts that often differentiate closely related species, but for identifying plants to family, good eyesight and a small magnifier will suffice. Buy one at a stationery store or a camera shop. The 10x loupe shown in the upper left corner is an example of the standard lens most people want. A decent hand lens will cost under $25.

The first reward for having a 10x magnifier is likely to be the surprising stuff that you really don’t see until you hold a flower up to your eye. There are often some amazing details of color, or plant structures that go unnoticed by casual observers. And when you discover the fun of seeing things up close, consider a pair of close-focusing binoculars. Huh? Binoculars? Yes; an enthusiastic yes. I recently bought some Pentax Papilio 8.5x21 Binoculars (about $145). These are 8.5x21 and focus down to an amazing 1.6 feet. These are super fun for looking at flowers even at your feet. Also great for butterflies ("papilio" means butterfly), and even birding. They still work for viewing distant abject but they are like having super powers to look at close things with 8+ power magnification. They are now right at the top of my list for tools useful in the field.

microscope, as described below.

Field Identification Requires a Book or Two

In most cases, field ID at the base level simply involves taking a really good look at the flower that has your attention, noting the first keying details: stamens, pistil, number of petals, sepals, and how they are assembled. This will usually be adequate to use a key from a Peterson's Guide. A 10x lens will help you see whether the parts are connected deep down into the flower, whether the plant parts are smooth or hairy, etc. Wait! Did I say hairy? You may be in for a surprise! Stems and leaves are often covered with a fine fuzziness. There are many kinds of fuzziness, or smoothness, or edges and such. The book shown here, Plant Identification Terminology is a real pleasure to have next to you when you get to look at parts. You are going to read lots of questions that use terms you have never heard, and this book has illustrations for nearly every one of them.

Having access to a nice book like Terminology will be helpful, but you clearly need some sort of book that describes the plants of the region you want to explore; a book like this is called a flora. It is more than just a collection of a few photos or drawings, it should be a generally complete list of everything that grows in a defined area. Serving a broader need, you might start out with a Peterson's Guide to Pacific Flowers or Peterson's Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. There are several other options but the Peterson book for the Pacific states has a very clear “key” to identify plant families.

A Note about Guides and ID Books..

It is likely that flora guides found on store shelves or through online sellers will not yet be up-to-date with name changes that were made a few years ago. For a list of names that have changed since the 1993 Jepson, visit the Index to Names Superseded since The Jepson Manual

An identification key is a series of paired questions of which only one should be a good choice when you are looking at a plant and answering questions about it. You choose the one option that matches and go to the step that is given as the next pair for comparison. Eventually you are expected to arrive at one final answer that identifies your plant.

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Here's Where You COULD Get to Spend Some Money...

As with any hobby, the lure of toys may start to become stronger and stronger. Here are a few things that make my field tripping more enjoyable:

A Digital Camera: When you head off on a field trip, you will almost certainly want to carry a camera. If you are still using film, great. But if you have started to think about a digital camera, read some tips on how to get what you want from flower photos. Read more...

A Stereo Microscope: If you really want to have some fun with plant ID, think about a 10x stereo microscope. I found one for $120 that looks adequate, but I started out with a more expensive type a few years ago (the Paragon) and enjoyed it so much that I upgraded to a better model (the Vision) with a lighted stage. I still use the Paragon for trips into the field where I can stand it on the hood of the car and key a plant; what a nice bit of luxury. Keep in mind that for this stuff, low power is better than high power. A simple 10x/20x lens is way better than a 100x lens.

A GPS Unit: A tool that reads satellite signals to pinpoint your location, you might wonder why this would be a part of your botany experience? Well, not only can it help you find your way back to the car, it can be used to mark locations of interesting finds so that you can share them with others, or even find that spot next year. I've used GPS for several years and love the ability to pre-plan a place to find, mark my trail, or locate spots and transfer that info to my Topo! maps You can do plenty with a unit costing around $100, and you can do more with one that costs more! Read more...

Topo!, a mapping program from National Geographic, is fun to use when you want to explore new places or track your adventures to old favorites. If you use a GPS, you can hook your device to your computer (USB, or serial port with adapter) and both upload waypoints from the field or create waypoints on the computer and move them to the GPS. Mark your finds in the field and add them to your map at home. Track your hikes and generate elevation profiles to see how hard you were working!

Two-Way Radios: When we wander around looking for flowers, more often than not we wander in slightly different directions. Pretty soon we are shouting out to reconnect. It's so easy to fall behind or simply drop out of view by kneeling down to take a picture or take a closer look at a flower. The problem was easily solved by adding a few inexpensive two-way radios. "Red Dog One,... this is Red Dog Two..., over!"

The best advice I can offer is to avoid the cheapest radios (like $25/pair) that only offer eight channels with no sub channels. We tried those and found that most everyone else was also using them. The result was that we listened to everyone in range telling their friends to stop for more beer, where to park, or whatever. Do yourself a favor and spend at least $50/pair (like these Cobra models...) to get many channels with many SUB channels! That gives you a big range of possible channels to help you avoid listening the rest of the people wandering around within two miles and chatting on "your" channel.

Standard FRS (Family Radio System) radios have a two-mile range, and yes, they talk to each other no matter what brand others have. Get them at REI or Amazon if you can't get to Radio Shack. We have had fine results with a set that cost $40. They run a very long time (multiple outings) on a set of rechargeable AAA batteries.

PolarPak hydration bladders are an item that will allow you to take an extended hike while carrying a nice cool drink with you. This is a 70oz bladder that will fit into your daypack, leaving the drinking tube to come over your shoulder and keep a bite valve ready for easy use to catch a drink as you walk along. The pak uses a freezer gel to keep the contents cool, but not diluting the drink as ice does when you try that with a Camelbak or water bottle.

This is a product that may only be available from the company web site.

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