This Identification Help Tool for vascular plants is a work-in-progress. It is being developed to help you identify vascular plants in BC (native or naturalized) by calling up a set of potential matching species.  The tool searches content displayed in the E-Flora BC atlas pages, including the content of the Illustrated Flora of British Columbia (IFBC), so the search is based on terminology used in the atlas pages.

Use the identification sections outlined below singly or in combination. You may choose one or more categories in each identification section.  At this stage of development, choosing fewer characters in a search may work best.  If some combinations of characters don't provide reasonable returns, then try different combinations.

The search is based on searching for multiple terms or characteristics, but also works well if you search for a single characteristic.  Searching for a single characteistic or term can provide useful returns. So, for example, search for a single landscape characteristic or for a single morphological feature. You can search by habitat type or substrate type and more. For example, select 'limestone' (or type limestone in the search box) and call up species that are described in our atlas pages as occurring on limestone.

Note that searching by flower colour does not work well at this point. Searches will call up all reference to a colour contained in our atlas pages.  For example, a search for 'red' will call up species with red flowers as well as red-listed species and species with red bracts and red stems. We are working to develop a flower colour database to improve on this. In the meantime, you may wish to exclude colour in your search.

Note also that search capability in the ID Tool is limited by Google, which provides the search engine that drives this tool. Google limits the number of results pages to 10, and sometimes produces inconsistent results

For definitions of terminology, please refer to the botanical glossary.

Identification Tool

1) Use the search box below to find possible matches to your plant. This feature allows you to search for plants by any descriptive term that is present in our atlas pages. This can include searching by habitat type (e.g., old growth), soil type (e.g. calcareous), geographical region (e.g., coastal), BEC zone (e.g. CCF), or plant morphology (e.g. thorns). Enter single terms or multiple terms separated by a space. Enter your search terms here:
2) Use landscape characteristics to call up possible matches to your plant Search by a single category or a combination of categories. Select one feature per category. Click on the Show Matches button for results.
Habitat or ecosystem type:   (leave blank)   Forest   Subalpine/alpine   Rocky outcrops or balds   Sagebrush-steppe or grassland   Freshwater wetland (incl. ditches)   Saltwater or saline habitats   Beaches and sand dunes   Disturbed areas	Substrate:   (leave blank)   Gravel   Humus   Limestone   Peat   Rock outcrop   Sand   Scree   Talus	Moisture regime:   (leave blank)   Dry   Mesic   Moist   Wet   Seepage
3) Use plant features to call up possible matches to your plant This section is under development as we test how well each feature or category works. Search using a single category or a combination of categories. Select one feature per category.. Click on the Show Matches button for results. Features that are frequently used in the Illustrated Flora of BC are being tested in this section.
Flowers:   (leave blank)   No petals   Three petals   Four petals   Five petals   Six petals   Multiple petals   Bell-shaped   Pea-like   Spurred   Tubular	Flower Colour:   (leave blank)   Green   Blue   Purple   Red   Pink   White   Yellow   Orange	Inflorescence type:   (leave blank)   Catkin   Cyme   Panicle   Raceme   Spike   Spadix   Umbel
Flowering Period:   (leave blank)   Spring   Early spring   Late spring   Summer	Leaf Type:   (leave blank)   Needle   Simple (but not needles)   Compound	Leaf Arrangement:   (leave blank)   Alternate (on the stem)   Opposite (on the stem)   Whorled (around the stem)   All basal (at base of plant)
Fruit Type:   (leave blank)   Achenes   Berries   Capsules   Cones   Follicles   Pomes   Pods	Plants:   (leave blank)   Glabrous (not hairy)   Hairy   Thorns, prickles or spines	Root Type:   (leave blank)   Bulbs, corms or tubers   Fibrous   Taproot   Rhizomes, runners or stolons
Growth Type:   (leave blank)   Annual   Biennial   Perennial	Growth Habit:   (leave blank)   Herb   Shrub (deciduous)   Shrub (evergreen)   Tree (deciduous)   Tree (evergreen)   Vine	Miscellaneous: (leave blank)   Aquatic plants   Exudes milky juice   Flowers scented   Plants sticky   Parasite or Saprophyte   Square stems   Tendrils present

This is a work-in-progress. Feedback on the ID tool will help us work towards improvement.
Please send us a comment

The Identification Help Tool is powered by Google Custom Search.