Clare O’Reilly clare@ptyxis.com The Top British Plant Families Young Darwin 2012 Sue Townsend Biodiversity Learning Manager sue.t@field-studies-council.org Clare O’Reilly clare@ptyxis.com

Facts……… About 60-70% of flowering plants in Britain are in about 15 families. (there are over 140 families in the British flora 600+ worldwide!!) So learning families can be short cut to using any key There are some quick gains to learn on similarities & differences in some common plant families

Sue’s top 12 12 easy to spot families which will cover most of what you need to raise confidence and get a bit of botanical know-how. Excludes tree families ( as they are not my favourites – and family ID isn’t always the quickest route to trees!)

Basic Botany to get you started.. Regular or irregular flower? Carpels free or fused? Type of ovary? Is it a grass?!!

Regular or irregular flowers? ZYGOMORPHIC ACTINOMORPHIC REGULAR FLOWER With RADIAL SYMETRY IRREGULAR FLOWER With SYMETRY in one plane only Regular or irregular flowers?

You have two plants in front of you One is a pink flower It is a Herb Robert One is Orange or white It is Monbretia/White deadnettle Are they both regular?

Carpels Free or Fused There are two plants in front of you... One has mostly gone over and white It is Hogweed One was yellow and the pink one is the same family It is a Wood Avens or Japanese Anenome Remember 1 carpel = stigma, style plus ovary Tear them gently apart – find their carpels – are they fused?

Are your ovaries inferior or superior?

Ovaries Superior or Inferior? There are two plants in front of you... One is pale yellow with shrivelled flowers It’s an evening primrose One is yellow with regular flowers - It’s a Buttercup Find the stigma and trace them back to find the ovary – is it above where the petals join?

Sue’s top 12 Buttercup Campion Cabbage Rose Pea Carrot Deadnettle Figwort Campion Daisy Lily Grass

1. Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family) Many free petals & sepals (often tepals) stamens & carpels Superior ovary Fr achenes = single seeded dry indehiscent (unsplitting) fruit; or Fr follicles = dry dehiscent with many seeds

2. Caryophyllaceae (Campion family) Petals, sepals usually 5 (sometimes absent) Stamens 5-10 Superior ovary Opposite lvs Fr capsule

3. Brassicaceae (Cabbage family) 4 petals & sepals in ‘cross’ hence ‘crucifer’ Stamens 4-6 Superior ovary Alternate lvs Fr usually of 2 fused carpels

4. Rosaceae (Rose family) Usually 5 free petals and sepals Stamens 5 to many Stipules usually present Epicalyx often present Trees, shrubs, herbs *K5C5A5- ∞G or inferior1-5 Trees = sorbus, prunus Shrubs = rosa Herbs = potentilla, aphanes, agrimonia, geum etc

5. Fabaceae (Pea family) Distinctive Irregular flower Leaves often trifoliate – sometimes pinnate. Varies in size eg Laburnum or vetch.

ptyxis ecology clare@ptyxis.com 6. The Apiaceae (used to be called the umbelliferae) Very distinctive family with white or cream flowers held up on ‘umberellas’ ptyxis ecology clare@ptyxis.com

7. Lamiaceae (Dead-nettle family) Square stem Opposite lvs Irregular flower Superior ovary forming 4 nutlets Often aromatic

8. Scrophulariaceae (Figwort family) Square stem Opposite lvs or alternate lvs or both Irregular flower 2-part superior ovary forming capsule

9. Asteraceae (Daisy family) Composite flower Made up of small florets held on a receptacle. Opposite lvs or alternate lvs or both Irregular flower 2-part superior ovary forming capsule Butterfly gives scale – this is a small flower Bonus for knowing the species of butterfly – small heath

10. Liliaceae (Lily family) Usually parallel leaf veins Regular flower Flower parts in 3s or 6s, tepals only Superior ovary (mostly)

11. Orchidaceae (Orchid family) Usually parallel leaf veins Irregular flower Flower parts in 2 whorls – outer sepals and inner petals – one petal forming a distinct lip Inferior ovary Butterfly gives scale – this is a small flower Bonus for knowing the species of butterfly – small heath

12. Poaceae (Grass family) Parallel leaf veins Flower with glumes and lemmas Distinctive features are ligules the way the stem is sheathed by the leaf and whether the leaf is folded or rolled when young. Butterfly gives scale – this is a small flower Bonus for knowing the species of butterfly – small heath

Plants as indicator species Plants tell us something about their environment eg Heather Acid soil Creeping Buttercup Wet Ground Tall Oat Grass Neglected Yellowort Calcareous To find out more – you can use a scoring system developed by a German botany professor – the Ellenburg Values.

Final Thoughts Learning the families enables you to short-cut in the keys There are lots you can find out by using plants as indicator species They provide habitat/food/egg laying sites for literally hundreds of species A little knowledge give some confidence in where to find out more They are the base of our foodchains

Further Information www.bsbi.org.uk www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/trees/index.htm Website with descriptions of the ecology of many UK species http://www.ecoflora.co.uk/ http://www.ceh.ac.uk/products/publications/untitled.html Direct links for free download of Ellenburg values

We are quite good too!!!...........

Pages from our website... Individuals & Families 2012| Natural History Flowers and Other Plants This section introduces the courses offered on the plant kingdom throughout the FSC. However, as you will see from the list of course titles, this phrase is interpreted fairly liberally and includes ‘for convenience’ groups such as lichens and fungi, as well as the flowering plants. http://www.field-studies-council.org/2012/flowersandplants/plant_identification_courses.aspx