Environmental Study of my backyard

[freeztar]

I don't know, but it looks like this:
Castilleja coccinea

That gets it close at least.

[Cedars]

Thats it! (and I double checked my book and its not there).

Do you have any tips/tricks that I should know for increasing my chances of identifying plants? Such as, All/most purple stemmed plants fall under blah blah blah family or maple leaf type plants are usually under a [insert type here] to help me learn distinguishing features.

Or are you having too much fun passing on this info and dont mind doing this?

Is there any particular book lines you would suggest or avoid? The one I picked up is a Peterson field guide for Wildflowers of the NE/N central region.

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Cedars

Thats it! (and I double checked my book and its not there).

It's probably not in there because it is more of a western species. I'm still not 100% on the species, but I'm pretty sure about the genus.

Do you have any tips/tricks that I should know for increasing my chances of identifying plants? Such as, All/most purple stemmed plants fall under blah blah blah family or maple leaf type plants are usually under a [insert type here] to help me learn distinguishing features.

The two main things that help me identify are flowers and geography. I saw the flower you posted and after a minute I thought, "That looks like an indian paintbrush flower, but it's orange...hmmm...". From there it just took a quick internet search. Knowing botany can help as well. For example, some books are broken down by flower type. For this flower I would know to confine my search to the irregular flowers section. From there it is helpful to know some other features. Are the leaves lanceolate? Are the veins parralel? Are the leaves dentate? etc. etc.
I guess it just comes down to experience. I'm sure when you see a bird that you don't know, you can usually track it down fast because you know it is a type of wren, or even that it looks similar to a wren. When I see a bird, I have to flip through the book pag-by-page as I have no reference/experience to build from.

Or are you having too much fun passing on this info and dont mind doing this?

Is there any particular book lines you would suggest or avoid? The one I picked up is a Peterson field guide for Wildflowers of the NE/N central region.

Unfortunately there is no one good book. The Peterson books are great. I'd stay away from the Audobon guide as it never seems to have the plant I'm looking for. I'd highly recommend checking out

Newcomb's Wildflower guide
Newcomb's Wildflower guide

.

Although it might be best to take the advice of your local DNR.

Cheers!

[freeztar]

Oh yeah...I forgot to share some tricks...

Here's some off the top of my head, but perhaps we can add to this list through time and turn it into a good guide for others...

Actually, I'll make a new thread for it.
Here

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by freeztar

It's probably not in there because it is more of a western species. I'm still not 100% on the species, but I'm pretty sure about the genus.

I looked it up in the Crex Meadows Plant List that I converted to an Access DB. That is the only species of paintbrush found on the list. You nailed it.

Originally Posted by freeztar

I guess it just comes down to experience. I'm sure when you see a bird that you don't know, you can usually track it down fast because you know it is a type of wren, or even that it looks similar to a wren. When I see a bird, I have to flip through the book pag-by-page as I have no reference/experience to build from.

Ah, Good Point.

Originally Posted by freeztar

Unfortunately there is no one good book. The Peterson books are great. I'd stay away from the Audobon guide as it never seems to have the plant I'm looking for. I'd highly recommend checking out Newcomb's Wildflower guide.

Although it might be best to take the advice of your local DNR.

Cheers!

OK It sounds like I picked a fairly good starter book. I will check into the Newcombs Guide as suggested.

Thanks again for all your help*.

*this doesnt mean I am not gonna post a bunch more pics and pick your brain for info

[Cedars]

OK This one I have tentatively ID'd and am looking for confirmation. My ID is Dwarf / Oval Leafed Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia) for the first pic. The first pic is a full view.

Classification | Dwarf Milkweed

The second pic is of much lower quality (and much older).

I have tentatively ID'd both the dwarf milkweed (behind and left) and the foreground as Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) in this pic. You might not feel comfortable committing to this ID due to the quality of the pic. I was actually trying to get a pic of the caterpiller.

Classification | Poke Milkweed

Agree? Disagree?

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Cedars

OK This one I have tentatively ID'd and am looking for confirmation. My ID is Dwarf / Oval Leafed Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia) for the first pic. The first pic is a full view.

Classification | Dwarf Milkweed

The second pic is of much lower quality (and much older).

I have tentatively ID'd both the dwarf milkweed (behind and left) and the foreground as Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) in this pic. You might not feel comfortable committing to this ID due to the quality of the pic. I was actually trying to get a pic of the caterpiller.

Classification | Poke Milkweed

Agree? Disagree?

Wow, I missed this post.
I'd say you ID'd those spot on from what I can tell by the pics which are not that poor considering you captured the flowers.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Cedars

... I was actually trying to get a pic of the caterpiller.

Is that a Swallowtail caterpillar we see?

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by freeztar

Wow, I missed this post.
I'd say you ID'd those spot on from what I can tell by the pics which are not that poor considering you captured the flowers.

I thought you had gotten sick of doing IDs for me

Whoo Hoo!

The dwarf Milkweed is a threatened plant in Wisconsin. I love it when I capture one of the listed things!

Thanks Again!

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Is that a Swallowtail caterpillar we see?

I have been trying to find a swallowtail cat, but so far, no luck.

That is a Monarch caterpiller.

Heres a pic from June where I tried to get a better shot. I have discovered caterpillers are not camera friendly (at least for the cam I am using). This is one of the pics I love because after I got it home, I discovered another critter in the pic that I did not see when taking it.

Near the bottom left corner you can see a very young caterpiller on one of the flower stems. I would guess that caterpillar is 3 days old or less.