Library Guides: Plant Identification and Foraging: Plant Identification

About This Page

Below you will find universal plant identification keys as well as general plant identification resources. If you know the type of plant you are attempting to identify, find the category (Trees and Shrubs, Flowering and Nonwoody, or Aquatic) on the navigation bar on the left.

The Plant Identification box below lists online databases about identification and are a quick way to find a specific species. Resources with the MU icon can only be accessed by current MU affiliates. MU affiliates can borrow print books from UM System libraries via Discover@MU or request them from other institutions through MOBIUS.

If you are not an MU affiliate, check your local library or look through our print collection in person!

Universal Plant Identification Databases

USDA PLANTS Database
The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. It includes names, plant symbols, checklists, distributional data, species abstracts, characteristics, images, crop information, automated tools, onward Web links, and references.
Discover Life Plantae
Discover Life is an interactive encyclopedia of life with 1,419,095 species pages and 820,236 maps. For plant identification, it has many ID Guides, as well as a pictures of plant
Plants of the World Online
Initially focusing on tropical African plants, Plants of the World Online is the first online database providing authoritative information of the world’s flora gathered from 250 years of botanical knowledge. It delivers information on the identification, distribution, traits, threat status, molecular phylogenies and uses of seed-bearing plants worldwide. It has 1,192,000 global plant names, 94,300 detailed descriptions, and 241,000 images.
Go Botany Native Plant Trust
Go Botany has keys for plant identification for woody, aquatic, grass-like, orchids and monocots, ferns, and other flowering plants. It also has video guides for identifying plants and is beginner friendly.
UConn Plant Database
The University of Connecticut's plant database can be searched by common and scientific name, basic traits (native status, plant form and size, and USDA Hardiness zone), ornamental traits (bloom time, fragrance level, bark color and texture, and fruit color), species qualities, site characteristics, and cultivar availability.
Invasive Plant Atlas
The Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States lists invasive plants by categories of aquatics, grasses, herbs/forbs, shrubs/subshrubs, trees, and vines. Listed plants are identified by common name, scientific name, family, and native or exotic status.
Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
An identification guide to the 7,500 varieties of plants located in the Kemper Center gardens. Plants can be searched by common name, scientific name, as well as many qualities of the plant such as color, sun tolerance, soil preference, height, bloom time, and maintenance requirements.
Biota of North America Program
Access BONAP's Taxonomic Data Center, North American Plant Atlas, Customized Geographic Database, and botanical garden guide.

eBooks

Trailside Botany : 101 Favorite Trees, Shrubs, and Wildflowers of the Upper Midwest
Trailside Botany is filled with clear descriptions and detailed drawings of the 101 wildflowers, trees, and other plants most likely seen along North Woods trails.
Plants of the World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Vascular Plants
Plants of the World is the first book to systematically explore every vascular plant family on earth—more than four hundred and fifty of them—organized in a modern phylogenetic order. Detailed entries for each family include descriptions, distribution, evolutionary relationships, and fascinating information on economic uses of plants and etymology of their names. All entries are also copiously illustrated in full color with more than 2,500 stunning photographs.
Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast
Includes 158 main entries plus 64 secondary species-feature descriptive information including scientific name and taxonomic authority, common names, botanical family, life form, place of origin, and identification features. Each entry is accompanied by original full-color photographs by the author which show the plants' characteristics and growth forms in their typical habitats

Print Books

The Kew Plant Glossary by Henk J. Beentje
This accessible, comprehensive glossary covers all the descriptive terms for plants that one is likely to encounter in botanical writing, including everything from magazine articles to plant field guides, scientific papers, and monographs. An essential companion, it presents 3,600 botanical terms, accompanied by full definitions and detailed illustrations to aid in identification, all laid out in a clear, easy-to-use fashion. It will be indispensable for plant scientists, conservationists, horticulturists, gardeners, writers, and anyone working with plant descriptions, plant identification keys, floras, or field guides.
Plant Identification Terminology by James G. Harris; Melinda W. Harris
Plant identification employs an extensive and complex terminology. Professional botanists often need several years in the field to master this terminology, and it presents a daunting obstacle to the student of botany.
The meaning of most botanical terms, however, is immediately apparent when an illustration is available. That is the purpose of this volume. Plant Identification Terminology provides over nineteen hundred clear illustrations of terms used in plant identification keys and descriptions. It also includes definitions for more than twenty-seven hundred taxonomic terms.
Invasive Plants by Sylvan Ramsey Kaufman; Wallace Kaufman
"A critical resource for naturalists, landowners, managers, and others hoping to understand and control these overly successful species." --Scott Weidensaul, author of Return to Wild America * Identify and understand the plants that are changing the North American landscape forever * Full-color photographs make identification simple * Detailed species accounts include information on identifying characteristics, effects on the ecosystem, and effective management * Second edition includes 23 additional species and updates and revisions throughout * Features full-color photos and descriptions of some 175 alien species-- both terrestrial and aquatic.

These photos are sourced from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library and are public domain.