The following article was written by Beth Botts is a staff writer at the Morton Arboretum.
If you want to know how to care for a plant, the first question always is: What plant is it?
Different plants need different care because they come from a wide range of places and circumstances, said Julie Janoski, Plant Clinic manager at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. If you don’t know the names or species of the plants in your yard, the Plant Clinic can help. “We identify a lot of plants from photographs and descriptions,” she said. The trained staff and volunteers at the Plant Clinic can be reached by email at plantclinic@mortonarb.org.
For these experts to identify your plant, you’ll need to supply enough information. Here are some suggestions to prepare, although you may not be able to provide all of the information.
For plant identification, structural details, such as how the leaves are attached to branches, may be as important as leaf shape or flower color.
Gather your thoughts. Write down everything you can remember about the plant. Is it evergreen, keeping its needles or leaves through the winter? If you planted it, how old is it? Does it bloom, and if so, at what time of year? What color are the flowers? How long do they last? Does it have fruit? When? Do the leaves change color in fall? What color do they turn? How tall is the plant? How wide is it? Is it growing in sun or shade? If it’s growing in shade, does it seem to be doing well in those lower light conditions? Does it tend to get a similar disfigurement every year?
Provide several photographs. “One photo isn’t enough,” Janoski said. “We need to see as many parts of the plant as possible.” It’s not just leaves and flowers that matter. Plant species often are identified by structural details, such as how the leaves are arranged, or how the flowers are attached to their stems.
Send high-resolution photographs. “In low-resolution photos, we can’t see enough detail to help,” she said. When emailing smartphone photos, choose the “large” or “original” file size. If you can’t send all the photos in a single email, do not make them smaller; instead, send multiple emails.
Show the overall size and shape. Ideally, place an object in the photo to show scale, like a lawn chair, a wheelbarrow, your 12-year-old. “A recent snapshot with your Uncle Benny is fine, as long as we can see enough of the shrub,” Janoski said.
Show the structure. For example, on a shrub, do most of the stems come up from a cluster at ground level, or are there a few stems that branch into many more stems? On a tree, do most branches go out toward the side or are they more vertical? On deciduous plants, the structure shows best in photos taken in winter or early spring, when the branches are bare. If you take photos in late spring or summer, be sure the structure can be seen and the plant isn’t just a mass of green.
Show closeups of a leaf. Both the top and bottom surfaces of a leaf are informative. Measure the length and width of a typical leaf and provide those dimensions, or put your hand in the photo to show scale. A photo of the leaves’ fall color helps, too.
Show how leaves are attached. “That’s a critical point of identification,” Janoski said. Get photos that show several different leaves or groups of leaves along a branch. On perennials, photograph the entire plant and a side view showing how the leaves join the stems.
Show flowers, fruit, nuts, cones and seeds. Many large trees have inconspicuous flowers. “Look along the ground under the tree in springtime for branch tips that squirrels nip off,” she said. “They often have flowers.”
Show the bark. Take a close-up of a tree’s trunk to show the texture of the bark. And photograph the base of the tree to show the shape of the trunk where it meets the soil.
What if you can’t get all these photos and facts? “Provide us as much information as you can, and we’ll do our best,” Janoski said. “The more you can tell us and show us, the better it is.”
For tree and plant advice, contact the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum (mortonarb.org/plantadvice or plantclinic@mortonarb.org).