Thanks Jack, been in Canada for the last two weeks - loads of great flowers including 21 species of orchid (5 of those Lady's-slippers). I will do a bit of research and see what I can come up with for the Italian plants. It might be worth trying out Wild About the World to upload the rest. It's not too different from this site.

Great to have you back Tig. My recent photos were all taken in Sorrento, Italy and on top of Capri and Vesuvius. I have a few more in the archive but I'm hesitant to post as its against the rules.

Hi Jack,
it's a bit of a combination of experience and a lot of reading/research!

I use a large range of books (I have a few thousand - not just on plants/animals - and not a big enough house!). It is also useful to visit gardens and garden centres with labelled plants so you become familiar with species that may turn up in the wild.

It is also useful to belong to one of the botanical societies such as the BSBI? Their journals regularly feature unusual alien species which people find - often with detailed descriptions and pictures.

Of course much is down to experience. I have been looking at plants for about 27 years so even if I come across a plant that I don't know, I have some idea of which genus or family it would be in. This of course can then greatly narrow down the search.

hope this helps
Tig

Hi Tig just wondering how you know what all these horrible aliens are? Which book are you using or is it knowledge/experience? :)

jack

please could you edit a photo of mine in the Gallery? I entered it as Fumaria occidentalis but is in fact white ramping fumitory. It is in Leifus' recent fumaria thread.

Thanks

thanks for all the flower IDs Tiggryx. I know it can be annoying to have loads of threads needing ID. Anyway its good to know theres more botanists out there on WAB! :D