identifying wild flowers

[crisscross]

Since joining a few weeks back, I have tried to progress from labelling as 'pretty flower'+'unidentified' to having a stab at identification, but can someone tell me if

http://www.floralimages.co.uk/

is definitive or just like us/you more knowledgable people like Wildone

my alternative is Dietmar Aichele: A field guide in colour to Wildflowers Octopus 1975 (translation of a German)

or is it best to just admit ignorance and keep to 'unidentified'?

Chris

[wildone]

Hi Chris

The two Wildflower books that I constantly refer to are: Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland by Marjorie Blamey, Richard and Alistair Fitter and The Wild Flower Key by Francis Rose.

As you will have noticed there are many pictures that others and I have been unable to identify. Take a field guide when you are out and try to ID at the time you take the photos of any flowers. Always easier to tell what they are from the living plant than from a picture. Many of your pictures have several types of flowers, try to ID each separately even if it means keeping a notebook for the purpose. Giving type of habitat when you post is always a help for others to confirm your ID

But above all keep trying even if you get it wrong it is surprising how quickly you will learn to ID plants that you see, and KEEP POSTING YOUR PICTURES, they are great even without identity. Also it keeps the likes of me on our toes.

Regards

Wildone

[henrya]

Another good book is The Wildflowers of the British Isles by Garrad and Streeter.

I echo Wildone's advice to try and key the flowers out in the field. Nothing is more annoying than to get a perfect picture of a flower, but when you get home you find from the book that the only way to tell the very common one from the very rare one is to look at the shape of the leaves at the bottom of the stem - not in your picture!

henrya

[crisscross]

Hi and thank you

the advice about the leaves is a good shutting of the stable door, sorry! At least I now know.

The other bit I am unclear about is who on the forum is allowed to "edit image" and therefore the title; I can - can anyone or is it only a panel of those allowed by the administrator?

How about total deletes, or is it OK to substitute? The 1st one of my orchids
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga....php?i=3850&c=
needs removing as I put another right way up later.

Chris

[wildone]

Hi Chris, have asked Moderators to delete the extra image although it had been put the correct way up by, I would think, a Moderator. Try clicking on Image Tools and see if it will allow you to edit your picture title etc. I think it may allow you access to edit your own images but not other people's.

[Helen]

Yep, I received the request to delete it. Seems to have been done already, so I was a little slow on the uptake!

Hopefully I'll be online a little more than I have been, as I didn't have access to the internet for the past 4 or 5 days.

[wildone]

Thanks Helen but the request was put in less than an hour before your post. StuartDH or somebody must have beat you to the draw.

Anyway glad you are back with us now.

[PeterJL]

John Crellin who owns Floral Images takes a lot of care with his identifications but like many of us is an amateur. There are also over 1,000 photos on

http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/index.htm

and on my own site:

http://www.ukwildflowers.com/