Plant Identification Glossary

 Latin names for the plants have been taken from Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories, by Eric Hulten, which is a comprehensive book identifying all the plants in Alaska. It is expensive, but you can get it at the public library.

 Many of the plants listed in this book are repre­sented by several species - for instance, there are 23 species of Caribou leaves in Alaska, and 5 of Yarrow. Sometimes the species are interchangeable for herbal or commercial purposes and sometimes they are not. Check with Hulten for positive identifica­tion when in doubt, and check with your buyer about commercial species.

 I have tried to avoid using technical botanical terminology when describing plants, but here are a few helpful terms:

Annual: a plant which grows, goes to seed and dies in one season.

Disturbed soils: soils that have been affected by man, such as gardens, roadsides, and construction sites.

Evergreen: a plant having green leaves throughout the year.

Fruit: the seed containing part of a plant.

Basal leaves: growing from the base of the stem only.

Deciduous: a plant which sheds its leaves annually.

Genus: a grouping of plants comprised closely related species.

Habitat: the growing environment or area of a plant.

Herb: a plant with no woody parts above the ground.

Herbaceous: leaf like in texture.

Leaflets: the divisions of a compound leaf.

Node: the joint of a stem, where a branches or branches and leaves intersect.

Perennial: living for more than two years and usually flowering each year.

Petal: the colorful part of a flower.

Rhizome: an underground, creeping root-like stem.

Shrub: low, woody plant with several perma­nent stems.

Taproot: a stout, vertical root that continues the main axis of the plant.

Timberline: the region (altitude) where the tree population stops.