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1a. Simple, cells all similar, commonly called
"algae"................................. 2
1b. At least fairly
complex............................................................................... 3
Note: The algae are sometimes classified as
Protistans.
2a. Green
algae.......................................................... Phylum Chlorophyta
Link to Examples
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2b. Brown
algae.......................................................... Phylum Phaeophyta
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2c. Red
algae............................................................. Phylum Rhodophyta
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3a. Small and somewhat simple. Mosses and
Liverworts.
...................................................................... Phylum Bryophyta
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3b. More complex. Have transport tubes inside stems, roots, and
leaves. Phylum Tracheophyta....................................................... 4
4a. Leaves and cones wind in distinct spiral pattern; cones are
simple.
Horsetails................................. Subphylum Sphenopsida
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4b. No spiral pattern; includes all of the most complex forms.
Subphylum Pteropsida................................................................... 5
5a. Leaves often have "feathery" appearance, commonly with
many spore packets (sori) underneath.
Ferns.
........................................................................ Class
Filicophyta
Info with
slightly different classification
5b. Woody; shrubs or trees, but may be vines; do not produce
flowers;
commonly produce cones. Class Gymnospermae....... 6
5c. Leaves flat and usually smooth; produce flowers; seeds are
packaged in various types of fruit. Class Angiospermae............. 7
6a. Usually with straight trunks and horizontal branches, commonly
cone-shaped in outline; thin, needle-like leaves; often called
"evergreens;"
have cones with true seeds inside.
Conifers......................................................................... Order Pinales
6b. Trees, with gray bark, marked with flat ridges; leaves flat and
fan-shaped, shed seasonally; separate genders; pollen
cones but not seed cones.
Ginkgoes............ Order Ginkgoaceae
6c. Usually a single trunk with crown of palm-like or fern-like leaves;
produce large cones. Tropical and semitropical. Cycads.
..........................................................................Order Cycadales
6d. Shrubs, Vines, or with short and very thick stem; leaves vary;
may have simple flowers. Gnetophytes................... Order Gnetales
7a. Seeds of one piece (cotyledon); leaf veins run parallel; stem
veins scattered;
flower parts in multiples of three.
Order Monocotyledonae................................................................. 8
7b. Seeds with two cotyledons; leaf veins branch; stem veins in
ring; flower parts in multiples of four or five; includes most
woody plants.
Order Dicotyledonae.............................................. 9
8a.
Leaves shaped like arrowheads, may be floating, with long,
sheathed stem; commonly in water or marsh; flowers
often white, with 3 sepals and 3 petals. Includes
Water Plantains.............................................. Family Alismataceae
8b. Superficially woody shrubs or trees; leaves large and
fan-shaped, with bases sheathed.
Palms......... Family Arecaceae
8c. Often in wet environments; leaves alternate and may be
large; flower often with central spike; usually with milky
sap;
fruit is berry. Includes Philodendron............. Family Araceae
8d. Small to tiny, floating or submerged; no real leaves.
Includes
Duckweed........................................... Family Lemnaceae
8f. Thick, sometimes swollen stems, often slimy; leaves
attached
in
spiral pattern; flowers usually blue, in boat-shaped
bracts, often with brightly-colored hairs, and with 3 sepals,
usually green, and 3 petals.
Includes Spiderwort.
............................................................ Family Commelinaceae
8g. Tufty; leaves alternate, but sometimes much reduced.
Includes
Rush...................................................... Family Juncaceae
8h. Stems often solid and triangular; leaves in sets of three;
often bristly or scaly. Includes
Sedge............. Family Cyperaceae
8i. Stems round, with solid nodes but hollow elsewhere; leaves
paired;
fruit often a grain. Grasses.................. Family Gramineae
8j. Found in water; leaves alternate along stem, erect or floating;
flowers are round, fruit prickly. Includes
Burr-Reed.
............................................................. Family Sparganiaceae
8k. Large, found in marshes or along shore; leaves are paired,
thick and spongy; produces thick top with light tufty seeds.
Includes
Cattails................................................. Family Typhaceae
8l. Grow on other plants or low to ground; leaves usually sprout
in ring from base, often rigid with spines; produces berry,
capsule, or multiple-chamber fruit. Includes
Pineapple.
................................................................ Family Bromeliaceae
8m. Leaves usually alternate and spiral; usually produce showy
flowers with 3 petal-like sepals and 3 petals; fruit a berry
or capsule.
Includes Lilies, Agave, Yucca........... Family Liliaceae
8n. Leaves alternate, usually in paired rows, usually edgewise to
stem;
produce relatively large flowers with 3 petal-like
sepals and 3 petals. Includes Irises and
Gladiolas.
.......................................................................... Family Iridaceae
8o. Leaves are paired, with tubular sheaths, often jointed at base;
flowers with petal formed into lip-like structure. Huge group.
Includes
Orchids.............................................. Family Orchidaceae
9a. Trees and shrubs; leaves are simple and alternate; flowers often
large, with many separate parts. Includes Magnolias.
..................................................................Family Magnoliaceae
9b. Found in water; leave stems long; flowers large, with many parts.
Includes Water
Lilies.................................. Family Nymphaeaceae
9c. Usually somewhat small; leaves with sheathed bases, often with
"split" blade; flowers with internal spiral arrangement.
Includes
Buttercup...................................... Family Ranunculaceae
9d. Leaves alternate; flowers are showy, with 2-lobed petals, often
folded somewhat; often produces milky or colored
secretion.
ncludes Poppies........................................... Family Papaveraceae
9e. Trees or shrubs; leaf bases offset from each other; leaves may
be oval with serrated edge. Includes Elms......... Family Ulmaceae
9f. Trees or shrubs; leaves alternate, may be clustered at ends of
branches; fruit is a nut, at least partially covered.
Includes Beeches and
Oaks................................. Family Fagaceae
9g. Leaves alternate, simple, with serrated edge and small
"leaf"
at base of stem; flower tail-like. Includes Birch and
Alder.
...................................................................... Family Betulaceae
9h. Usually quite thick and moist inside; usually spiny, with spines
in rings; have single showy flowers with numerous parts.
Includes
Cactus.................................................... Family Cactaceae
9i. Usually found in poor soil or harsh environments; stems may be
jointed, usually without leaves along them. Includes
Spinach, Beets, and Russian Thistle..... Family Chenopodiaceae
9j. Small; leaves are paired and connected at base.
Includes Pink............................................ Family Caryophyllaceae
9k. Stems with swollen nodes, and leaves with nodes at base.
Includes Buckwheat and
Smartweed.......... Family Polygonaceae
9l. Usually trees; leaves alternate; flowers and fruit with large,
membranous bract. Includes Basswood and Linden.
.......................................................................... Family Tiliaceae
9m. Herbs or shrubs; often covered with hairy structures;
leaves alternate, may have lobed edge; flowers with
5 separate petals.
Includes Cotton, Okra, Hollyhock,
Hibiscus................................................................ Family Malvaceae
9n. Leaves are tubular or vase-like, forming water-filled insect
catcher;
part of flower forms umbrella-like structure.
Includes Pitcher
Plant................................. Family Sarraceniaceae
9o. Leaves have sticky glands or hairs that trigger folding leaves.
Includes Sundews and Venus Flytraps........ Family Drosseraceae
9p. Leaves alternate; flowers are solitary, bilaterally symmetrical
with 5 petals, lowest often spurred. Includes Violets,
Pansies................................................................... Family Violaceae
9q. Vines, with coarse tendrils opposite leaves; usually with yellow
flowers; fruit is berry, squash, melon, or gourd.
............................................................... Family Cucurbitaceae
9r. Trees and shrubs; flowers resemble cat's tail; seeds with tufts.
Includes Willows, Aspens, Cottonwoods, Hazel.
....................................................................... Family Salicaceae
9s. Small; leaves alternate; produce smelly, thin juice; flowers with
4 sepals, 4 petals, 4 long and 2 short stamens. Includes
Mustards Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Radish, Turnips.
................................................................. Family Brassicaceae
9t. Somewhat woody; leaves alternate, may be evergreen; flowers
bell- or pitcher-shaped. Includes Rhododendron, Azalea,
many berry varieties (blue, cran, huckle) and Heath.
........................................................................ Family Ericaceae
9u. Stems and leaves are fleshy; flowers clustered.
Includes Stonecrop........................................ Family Crassulaceae
9v. Small; leaves alternate at base of stem; flowers with 5 sepals
and 5 petals, which may have
"claws."....... Family Saxifragaceae
9w. Flowers with 5 sepals and 5 petals which radiate out separately,
often with floral disk. Includes Roses, Apples, Pears, Peach,
Apricot,
Plum......................................................... Family Rosaceae
9x. Leaves in feathery or palm-like arrangement; flowers shaped
somewhat like butterfly; fruit in pods. Includes Peas,
and
Beans....................................................... Family Leguminosae
9y. Small; flowers in pairs or 4's, with thickening in support stem;
Includes Evening
Primrose.............................. Family Onagraceae
9z. Shrubs that live parasitically on trees' branches; leaves usually
opposite and leathery; fruit berry or cherry-like.
Includes
Mistletoe................................................. Family Viscaceae
9aa. Leaves in feathery or palm-like pattern; flowers shaped like
umbrellas. Includes
Sorrel................................ Family Oxalidaceae
9bb. Leaves alternate, often split palm-like; flowers single or in
umbrella-like clusters. Includes Geraniums... Family Geraniaceae
9cc. Herbs with thick, watery stems; leaves alternate or opposite;
flowers bilaterally symmetrical, with male parts forming
cap
over central female parts. Includes Touch-Me-Not.
.............................................................. Family Balsaminaceae
9dd. Herbs with odor and hollow stems; multiple leaves per stem;
with sheathed bases; flowers radiate out from central
point,
usually yellow or white. Includes Carrot, Parsley.
................................................................... Family Umbelliferae
9ee. Usually herbs; leaves opposite; flowers with 4-5 separate
sepals
and 4-5 united petals. Includes Gentian...... Family Gentianaceae
9ff. Produces milky sap; thick leaves usually opposite; seed pods
with silky tufts on seeds. Includes Milkweed.
............................................................. Family Asclepiadaceae
9gg. Leaves alternate; flowers with parts in 5's, bilaterally symmetrical.
Includes Potato, Tomato, Bell Peppers, Chili Peppers,
Belladonna,
Tobacco........................................ Family Solanaceae
9hh. Leaves alternate; flowers with parts in 5's, usually disk-like;
often produce thick milky secretion. Includes Morning
Glory...........................................................
Family Convolvulaceae
9ii. Parasitic, without leaves or roots; stems thin, may be yellow.
Includes
Dodder............................................... Family Cuscutateae
9jj. Stems are square; distinct odor; leaves opposite; flowers at
tips or spiral along stem; flowers bilaterally symmetrical;
fruit with 4 nutlets. Includes Mint, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary,
Lavender, Basil, Oregano,
Etc.......................... Family Lamiaceae
9kk. Leaves spread out at base, with most obvious veins parallel;
flowers with parts in 4's. Includes
Plantago.
................................................................Family Plantiginaceae
9ll. Leaves opposite; flowers with parts in 4's. Includes Olives,
Ash, Lilac, Forsythia, Jasmine, and Ligustrum... Family Oleaceae
9mm. Many flowers on same shared stem; flowers parts in 5's.
Includes Snapdragon, Digitalis............. Family Scrophulariaceae
9nn. Leaves alternate; flowers with parts in 5's, on thickened base;
may produce milky secretion. Includes Harebell.
............................................................ Family Campanulaceae
9oo. Leaves usually opposite; Includes Gardenia,
Coffee.
...................................................................... Family Rubiaceae
9pp. Leaves opposite; flowers clustered. Includes
Honeysuckle.................................................. Family Caprifoliaceae
9qq. Highly variable traits in large group. Includes lettuce and
Sunflowers.......................................................... Family Asteraceae
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