April 8, 2014 Webinar: Botany 101 and Tricky Phenophases

Do you see…flowers or flower buds? Yes, Flowers or flower buds No, Open Flowers Yes, Flowers or flower buds Yes, Open flowers Yes, Flowers or flower buds No, Open flowers Photos: Ellen G Denny

Leaf bud? Flower bud? Photos: Ellen G Denny No, Flowers or flower buds No, Open Flowers Yes, Flowers or flower buds Yes, Open flowers Yes, Flowers or flower buds No, Open flowers

Do you see…open flowers?  Grass flowers are tiny and inconspicuous, and grouped into a spikelet  Spikelets are grouped into an inflorescence

Flowers and flower heads One or more fresh flower heads (inflorescences) are visible on the plant. Flower heads, which include many small flowers arranged in spikelets, emerge from inside the stem and gradually grow taller. Include flower heads with unopened or open flowers, but do not include heads whose flowers have all wilted or dried. Left Photo: Ohio State Weed Lab Archive, Ohio State University, Bugwood.org. Right photo: James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster via Wikimedia Commons

Do you see…initial growth? Initial growth: New growth of the plant is visible after a period of no growth (winter or drought), either as new green shoots sprouting from nodes on existing stems, or new green shoots breaking through the soil surface. For each shoot, growth is considered "initial" until the first leaf has unfolded. Left Photo: Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum

Female conifer seed cones

Male conifer pollen cones

What is intensity? Less than 5% 95% or more 5-24%25-49% 50-74% 75-94% How many buds are breaking? Less than 3 3 to to to 1,000 1,001 to 10,000 More than 10,000 What percentage of the canopy is full with leaves? If you answer “Yes” or “Uncertain” to a phenophase – you may be asked an additional question about the degree to which the phenophase is expressed, for example:

How many flowers are present? Photo: Kroton via Wikimedia Commons Less than 3 3 to to to 1,000 1,001 to 10,000 More than 10,000

What percent of the canopy is full with leaves? Photo: Anette Schloss Start with a bare tree… no leaves

What percent of the canopy is full with leaves? Imagine it fully leafed out…

* Ignore dead branches in your estimate. Photo: Anette Schloss What percent of the canopy is full with leaves? Less than 5%

5-24% What percent of the canopy is full with leaves? Photo: Anette Schloss

What percent of the canopy is full with leaves? 25-49%

What percent of the canopy is full with leaves? 50-74%

What percent of the canopy is full with leaves? Photo: Anette Schloss 75-94%

Photo: Anette Schloss What percent of the canopy is full with leaves? 95% or more

Leaves: 25-49% Colored leaves: 25-49% Leaves: 95% or more Colored leaves: No Photo: Anette Schloss Leaves: 95% or more Colored leaves: 75-94%

USA National Phenology Network Photo credit: LoriAnne Barnett