Try to come back within a week or two and do the exact same things on the same trail, but this time noting the things about the plant you learned at home. Say hello to the plant when you see it at first, and call it by name!
Walk the same trail repeatedly and note changes in the plant, from the flower to fruit, to the fruit ending, to the plant before bloom in the next year. Note how the blooms sometimes change from the first bloom of the season to the last bloom. Note the weird things that occasionally happen, such as galls or fasciation.
Kay Madore learned over 100 species last year by doing much of the above. In the process, she discovered 3 species not on the plant list, and was credited for being the one to add 2 of them to the plant list (she was scooped on one by Zach; she scooped me on one).
Walking a single trail repeatedly through a season or year is the best way to learn most of the showy flowers and major plants. Remember: even neighboring trails differ greatly. The only way to own a trail, and know the plants on a trail, is to walk that trail repeatedly.
Use my plant lists for each trail! They narrow down the species even further than the entire SRP plant list.
http://tchester.org/srp/plants/how_to_id/28.html
Comments and feedback: Tom Chester
Last update: 16 October 2003.