KEYING GUIDELINES
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!!!

There are many books and tools available to help you identify plants. Knowing which ones to use and where to start will make the process much easier.

Part one--Finding a Name

Before You Begin--

1. Look at your plant. If you recognize the family, you can skip the family key. Becoming familiar with the more common families will save a lot of time.

2. Jotting down a floral formula helps keying no matter where you start.

 3. Picture Guides: Remember that while picture guides may be useful for getting a "ballpark" idea of family (occasionally genus), they are NOT keys and are never to be used for species identification. For each plant that gets its picture in a book, dozens of similar plants are left out. DO NOT get your ID's from picutre books or field guides or websites--their nomenclature is often incorrect or out of date. Read below to learn which books have acceptable names.  

Using the right key

1. Dicots of the Local Area--This includes Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Robertson, and Washington Cos. Use your Gray Lab Key to get to family and genus. For Dicots:to get to species, use one of our Big Black Keys unless directed otherwise. These families are in BOLD CAPS in the key to family as a reminder. The Big Black (or Gray) Key is an expanded version of your key.   Do not use a key not meant for our area!

2.  Monocots of the Local Area--Your gray key will key to genus.  You may use our "Black Key" version to key to species if you have Alismataceae, Commelinaceae, Iridaceae, Liliaceae, Orchidaceae, or Smilacaceae.  (This book is actually a small red folder.) For other families, you may use Illustrated Flora of East Texas, Volume I, but realize that family alignments may not match what you learn in lab.   (Don’t confuse this book with  the Flora of North Central Texas!)   If you get stuck, ask your TA or Monique if there is some other helpful book.

3. Texas Plants Not From the Local Area--Check with your TA or Monique to see if your gray lab key can be used, and if so, how far. Sometimes the local key works all the way; sometimes not. ASK.  You may be keying in the Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas, which is a fine work but out of date--sometimes a name in it will need to be updated.

4. Grasses--Same as  2 above, or try Gould's Grasses of Texas, a good book with drawings. Its nomenclature may need updating. The Experiment Station has several very useful regional keys; ask Monique if one of them applies.

5. Woody Plants With Fruit but Without Flowers--Check with Monique or your TA. Often the best book is E. Nixon's Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of East Texas, but not always. Some names may need to be updated, e.g., Bumelia= Sideroxylon, pecans.

6. Non-Texas Material--Check with your TA or Monique to find out which key to use. Sometimes the gray and black keys work part way, but ASK. If you know you will be collecting out of state, tell Monique ahead of time, so she can round up a key for you so it's handy when you need it. Names may need updating.  We can tell you now that there's no fantastic key for Mexico and that import restrictions are a major hassle.

6. Aquatic and Wetland Plants--Try the appropriate source above, or try one of our two sets of wetland plant keys. One is for southeastern states, one is for southwestern states, and both of them are illustrated. Names may need to be updated from these books. 

Part Two--Checking Your Identification

The Student Herbarium

1. Look in the Student Herbarium to find sheets that correspond with the name you have chosen. Subclasses are arranged in the order we study them. Families are arranged alphabetically within subclass. To find out what subclass a family is in, consult the list inside any cabinet door. Then find the proper subclass cabinet (some subclasses take up two or more) and the proper family. Genera are alphabetical within the family. Each genus has its own folder, or perhaps two if it is large. NOTE folders are placed under the tag with the family name, not above. Species are arranged alphabetically in each genus folder.

2. Compare Your Specimen to the Sheets--Is it the same? Similar? Different? If you're sure it's the same--great! If it's close, you will want to check your keying again or ask for help. If it's very different--back to the key. Sometimes there are notes with helpful hints pasted inside a genus folder or a note that says the name's been changed and directs you to another folder.

NOTE that many sheets have one or more annotation ("change") labels or handwritten notes attached. These correct a misidentification or make note of a change in nomenclature. The correct ID for a sheet is the one that appears on the most recent of all the annotations on the sheet.

DO NOT EXPECT to ID a plant to species just by figuring out the genus and then looking through the genus folder for a match! Many species are differentiated by characters that are not readily visible on an herbarium sheet. Also, the student herbarium does not contain sheets of every species found locally. Remember: Key first, look later.

Using the Student Herbarium

Return to the Plant Collection Guidelines
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last update July 11, 2007 by Monique Reed