Abbott Botanical Assessments, LLC

Tag: plant identification

  • From the Archives: Intro to Utah Plant Identification

    From the Archives: Intro to Utah Plant Identification

    Back in 2020, a representative from the Utah State University Sustainability Extension Permaculture Initiative asked us to present as part of their online educational series.

    We chatted about what they were looking for in a successful presentation and what skills their audience wanted to develop. Quickly, we decided that plant identification was a serious topic of interest.

    Our presentation had the highest turnout of any online class that year. There were over 800 people interested in the event and we had at least 99 people attend the meeting virtually.

    Here’s a screenshot of the 2020 Impact Report from USU Sustainability Permaculture Initative about the presentation:

    Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find any video of the live presentation. However, we were able to find the event page and the associated attendance data.

    At the beginning, we had dozens of folks that were interested, but the week before the presentation, we had hundreds of people interested daily.

    After the webinar, we had folks reaching out to us for about a year congratulating us on a wonderful program. It lead to many new partnerships across Utah, including the Utah Public Archaeology Network.

    Now available (with minimal updates) here are the slides from over 5 years ago.

    Introduction to Utah Plant IdentificationDownload

    We had a great time presenting these resources and interacting with the audience. It was the largest online group we’ve presented in front of and we’d like to beat that record!

    If you’re interested in hosting a successful webinar or presentation, schedule a meeting with us.

    We’re committed to providing comprehensive workforce development programming for your community.

    We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

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  • Free New Mexican Urban Tree Dichotomous Key (version 1.0)

    Free New Mexican Urban Tree Dichotomous Key (version 1.0)

    What is a Plant Key?

    A plant key is a tool used to artificially classify a plant based on it’s physical characteristics. Typically, these keys feature conserved characteristics like reproductive structures as they rarely change from generation-to-generation in plants.

    However, with many plants, especially trees, it can be hard to identify the plant because there is a short window to observe their reproductive structures. This is why we use vegetative parts in our keys.

    In this key, we’ve used multiple characteristics to help users learn how to see plant patterns from a botanist’s perspective. Try making your own key from plants in your community! We’ve included many resources in the pdf for you to explore.

    Why Should I Use A Plant Key Instead of an App?

    While apps and AI can be helpful in identifying plant species, it’s not recommeneded. Plant taxonomy experts look at all sorts of small characteristics to build a plant profile for artificial keys.

    Frequently, apps will provide the wrong species due to many factors like: wrong location, poor cell service, blurry photos, no identification tied to herbarium-vouchered specimens, etc.

    Addiitonally, there are better tools available! Try iNaturalist, an app that uses verified source material and subject matter experts from around the world to help accurately identify plant species.

    Quick, Introductory Key to Common New Mexican Urban Tree SpeciesDownload