Wildflower Identification for Intermediates

This two-day course is designed for those who are familiar with several wildflowers but struggle with using a botanical key toidentify unfamiliar species or species of notoriously ‘difficult’ families.

We shall spend some time in the classroom, covering the terms for features used in the Botanical keys for these ‘harder’ groupsof plants. We shall then oscillate between classroom and outdoors working as a group (or in pairs under supervision) on keyingout examples of the more challenging species.

So as to be useful to participants, we shall cover as wide a variety of types as possible and will avoid spending time fretting oversub-species and hybrids. But we hope that by the end of this course that you will feel confident in using a botanical key fortackling the identification of ANY ‘new’ species.

Please note that this course is for intermediates and not beginners. If you are unsure whether or not you qualify as a beginner, we strongly recommend that you start with our Beginners' Guide to Wildflower Identification on 31 May.

Participants who join this course will already be familiar with the basic botanical terms for describing plants but have becomeconfused when these are applied to atypical families, such as the Grasses, Sedges, Daisies, Docks and Goosefoots. Similarly,they may not have grasped the specific terminology associated with these atypical families.

By the end of the course it is expected that you will have gained:

• A working knowledge of a wide range of relevant botanical terms
• An deeper insight into flowering plant classification
• Greater confidence in using scientific keys to Identification, notably of the ‘difficult’ groups of flowering plants

Led by Ros Bennett, Botanist

Suitable for improvers who might be familiar with several plant species and basic botanical terms, but who have becomeconfused when trying to use a key to the identification of especially the more difficult groups of flowering plants. This coursefollows on from our Beginner's Guide to Wildflower Identification course on 31 May.