Delaware Wild Plant ID

15 years ago

Hi All,

I'm looking for IDs and for references to assist me in IDing native plants, wildflowers, and trees in the Mid-Atlantic region, especially in Delaware. I keep a photoblog, and lately I wonder more and more what the plants I sometimes photograph actually are, especially the ones I see again and again in various places.

If anyone knows of any good plant ID books or sites for my area, I would love to have recommendations. And if anyone wants to take a look at my photoblog and see if they know any of them offhand, that would be great. I've got flowers, berries, mushrooms, leaves, tree bark, all kinds of stuff that I have no names for.

I didn't see anywhere if there was a preference for embedded images or external links, so I'll post some links to photos from Trap Pond State Park as an example and feel free to let me know if you prefer embedded images here instead.

This one has a mushroom, a fall leaf, and some kind of pine tree bark.

This one has what I assume must be bald cypress (?) but I'm not sure since it's not actually *in* the water like the others, and I can't get close enough to the ones that *are* in the water to do an up close comparison. Also an unidentified berry.

This one has lots of unidentified berries.

This one has a yellow flower growing on the border of the pond.

This one has more photos from the same trees as above, which I think are cypress, but these are the pinecones and bark. Also what I think must be Virginia Creeper.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments (10)

Iris GW
15 years ago
On the post with unidentified berries, it would REALLY help to be able to see some of the leaves.
beetle_doc
15 years ago
My guesses for unidentified berries
1. Aralia
2. Cornus florida
3. grapes
4. Smilax
5. crabapple?
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life_on_the_edges
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, esh_ga,

Some of them didn't seem to have any leaves. Here are some wider shots I got of the ones that did, though, if they'll help. My main problem was the lighting conditions - at that time of day, I have a choice between too much light (direct sun) or not enough light (shadows) just as the sun is coming up.
life_on_the_edges
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, beetle_doc,

Cornus Florida and Smilax definitely look right. I couldn't find any pictures of Aralia or grapes that looked like what I found, but I'll check some more later. Also need to do more research on Crabapple - the berries I found were only each about 3/8", and I'm not sure if they come that small, but I haven't had time to look yet.
Iris GW
15 years ago
Ok, thanks.

I do think the first one could be Aralia, the second Cornus florida, the third perhaps a Viburnum, smilax and the last is perhaps a Hawthorn.
weedwoman
15 years ago
The third one looks like Arrowwood Viburnum to me, Viburnum dentatum.

WW
flora_uk
15 years ago
I would say the 3rd picture down is rosehips. I don't know what species you would find in that area. And the last one is not a Malus. Looks like a Crataegus or a Sorbus.
life_on_the_edges
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi all,

Thanks so much for all the feedback! In the meantime, I did find one other interesting resource: ENature.com. There are all sorts of ways of searching, including by zip code. It's not terribly convenient, once you have the results, but it's still interesting.

I have another plant that I'd be curious to know the identity of, if anyone knows it. It's in the last two photos of this entry, with one closeup shot and one distant shot. I thought it was flowers when I first saw it, but up close, it almost looks like some sort of succulent (?). It was growing in the marshes beside the Delaware Bay - the structure visible in the background of the last shot is actually a ramp to a handicapped-accessible viewing platform to look out at the water (and it's a horseshoe crab sanctuary, so out on the spawning horseshoe crabs at the right time of year) less than 50 ft from the tide line.
weedwoman
15 years ago
I think the red plant is a species of Salicornia, common names Glasswort or Samphire. I don't know which one it is, but my copy of Gleason says 'the plants often turn bright red in the fall.' I think people eat it in Europe.

By the way, you asked about ID links; there is a Delaware Wild Flowers site.

WW

Here is a link that might be useful: Delaware Wild Flowers
life_on_the_edges
Original Author
15 years ago
WW,

Thanks, you *are* good. I googled Glasswort and that looks like exactly what I saw.