Depending on where you live, the flowers are either at the height of their bloom, or they are just beginning. Regardless, it's the time of year to bust out your loupes (in other words, undust your magnifying lenses), and start keying out plants--- or at least looking at them carefully! (The better to appreciate you, my dear.)
Besides the obvious: look carefully, and then look even more carefully, and notice and take note of what you see...
The four basic whorls of a flower, from outside in: Sepals, Petals, Stamen, Pistil. In plural form: Calyx, Corolla, Androecium, Gynoecium.
But wait, there's more!
Here's a few ideas on how to start botanizing:
- Download 7song's Botanical Identification Steps handout
... and see 7song's website for more free and useful handouts
- Join the free/ by-donation "Botany Everyday" class run by Marc Williams
Happy herb-nerding!
