Plant Identification: A Holistic Path

You are out in the forest and looking at the glorious plant life surrounding you. Whether you are a beginner and have never identified one plant, or a Botany professor at a university, you might appreciate this refreshingly simple approach to plant identification. I remember lovingly (and sometimes screamingly) that my college classes in Systematic Botany required me to become acquainted with that local Washington Flora that we plant dorks call “Hitchcock and Cronquist”. I always felt a contradiction of rapt fascination and obsession, alternated with profound burnout, when trying to navigate this enormous dichotomous key!

In addition, my observation skills as an ethnobotanist were refined , foraging for wild foods, fiber s and medicine. After many years of this  love affair with plants, I learned a new way to proceed in my plant identification journey that added a much-needed holistic element. This journey begins with a single plant! Along with the following tips which I hope will inspire your inner botanist’s soul.

A combination of actual need for sustenance, curiosity and simple observation skills are almost all you need to start identifying plants. On a deeper level, to truly be successful in any naturalist journey, you might add a deep desire to form connection to land and willingness to be “ wrong” now and then. Many people will get stuck, berating themselves in fear of misidentifying a plant. Here is a little secret – the “ experts” do it too! Don’t be so hard on yourself. Take a holistic approach to plant ID that will start with simply forming a relationship with a plant. This can develop into learning common and botanical names, medicinal and edible uses and plant anatomy; and then progress into understanding biochemical properties, ecological relationships and phylogeny .

Wherever you are in this journey, the following activities and tips will add some elegant tools to your already blooming botanical basket.

This activity requires nothing but your hands, your eyes, an inquisitive mind and a plant of your choice. I strongly suggest you try  this with a partner; it can be a very powerful experience when shared. Or , you can do this by yourself and still have an enriching, eye- opening adventure.

Approach the plant of your choice and find a place to start. This can be anywhere: a tip of leaf, the base of a trunk or the petals of a flower. Use your hands (if you can use them without damaging the plant) and start a detailed observation of the plant, beginning with the micro and moving to the macro. For example, I would go to a Sword Fern, start at the tip of the frond and work my way to the base. Next I observe the fronds, the sori, the veins, where the leaves attach, the color, the taste (with safe plants) and the smell. Then I transition into a macro observation state, looking at how and where the fronds attach at the base. After this, I take a step back and look at the size of the whole plant; and another step back to see if I can identify more Sword Ferns on the landscape.

An addition, while looking at this plant, I would be asking questions of myself. Here is the tricky part: Do not answer them out loud . ‘What!? Don’t answer them out loud?’ you say? If you answer aloud, y ou will severely limit training your mind to observe without assuming. Just quietly note what you see in your mind and move on. This is particularly challenging when doing this with a partner (which is why I prefer exploring  this way ). Too often in our society are we required to produce answers, and this minimized the opportunity for pure, unadorned, peaceful observation. You will literally see more (and therefore learn more) when you are not required to answer. Even when I “ know” a plant, I approach it during this activity as though I have never seen it before. Usually, that frees me to walk away having observed some detail I had never noticed before!

At Wilderness Awareness School we talk about using search images to identify plants, tracks and birds . Your brain has a large filing system that stores a multitude of images to help identify things. The gift of this attribute is that it allows you to store vast amounts of information without going insane! The shadow aspect of this process is resorting to what I call Snap Identification . An e xample is thinking, o h, that plant must be a Black Cottonwood, because my mind shows me images of that plant that  usually grows by water, is deciduous and has heart- shaped leaves. I cannot count how many times students have misidentified Black Cottonwoods for Red Alder! When I first started, I did the same thing; it happens to everyone.  W ith good observation skills. you eventually learn the differences. The idea here is to train you to observe without conclusion. Take the time to just ask questions, be present and form a non-naming relationship with the plant and yourself.

As time moves on, you will experience how your observations accumulate, and then you will understand  how that helps you to know a plant, bird, track or animal.

In the next addition of “ Plant Identification: A Holistic Path,” we will explore the finer points of plant anatomy, ethnobotany, dichotomous keys and your local botanical resources. Until then, be kind to yourself, employ your curiosity and go meet a plant!