Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Dwarf Milkweed

My neighbor, Doug, called and asked where I went on the Internet to figure out the weeds I find. I use one of the state university botany sites and explained that he could use the site to search by color, blooming month, county, common name, or even status (medicinal use, hazardous, charm, etc.). Then Indy and I went out on a leisurely walk. Wouldn't you know it. I found this new plant along the way. Once we were home I went to that website to try and figure out what it was. Obviously in the milkweed family but there are quite a few different milkweed plants in my state. Think this is the dwarf variety. For every plant, the website includes a picture of the state w/ each county outlined. If the plant has been found there, the county is filled in. My county was not colored in for lots of plants I've found. (Not too surprising, no one comes here.) I sent an e-mail to the director of the website and he said, while they prefer to get specimens, he thought pictures would be accepted if they were recognizable. He also gave me a website which lists all of the plants that have been found in the counties around mine but not mine. Will be fun if I can contribute to their database.

1 comment:

Pete said...

Sounds like a fun PT job for you! You've already do a big part of the research, categorizing, and photographing as part of the blog. They will be impressed .... and .... thankful for your help.