Compiled by Marc Coles-Ritchie
Plant Identification
Resources
for the COLOR ADO PLATEAU
2
Compiled by Marc Coles-Ritchie, Grand Canyon Trust
Updated April 2, 2020
The following is a list of books, apps and websites that are useful in
identifying plants in the Colorado Plateau. The author works mostly in
Utah, so that geographical area is well represented in this list. An asterisk (
*
)
indicates eld guides and apps the author recommends for use in the eld
by beginning and intermediate botanists. A glossary and some references
are listed after the table.
Note: oras are the most complete plant identication resources, but since most
casual botanists shy away from the highly technical botanical terms, the oras
are at the end of this list.
3 Forbs/Wildowers
4 Woody Plants
5 Graminoids
5 Apps
6 Web Sites
7 Weeds
8 Wetland Plants
8 Rare Plants
9 Floras
10 Denitions
10 References and Resources
ALL PHOTOS BY MARC COLESRITCHIE
TITLE
GEOGRAPHIC
FOCUS
DESCRIPTION
AUTHORS AND
PUBLISHER
Forbs/Wildflowers (may include some shrubs, trees, and grasses)
3
A Field Guide to the Plants of
Arizona
*
Capitol Reef Wildowers
Rocky Mountain Flora: A
Colorado Mountain Club
Field Guide
*
Sandstone Country
Wildowers Mountain
Edition: A Field Guide to the
Wildowers of the Moab
Region and Beyond
*
Sandstone Country
Wildowers: The Red Shoe
Guide
*
Spring Wildowers of
Utah’s Red Rock Desert
*
Wildowers & Other
Herbaceous Plants of Utah
Rangelands: A Field Guide
Wildowers of the Mountain
West
Color photographs and
descriptive text for 850 plant
species found in Arizona.
Field guide to 209 plants of
the Capitol Reef area, with
color photographs; includes
48 endemic species.
Organized by color, with
images, taxonomy, and
detailed descriptions of each
ower.
Descriptions and color
photos for many of the
common wildowers and
shrubs of the foothills and
mountains of southeastern
Utah.
Descriptions and color
photos for 135 of the
common wildowers and
shrubs of the canyons, clis,
and mesas of southeastern
Utah.
Features 500 common
spring wildowers, trees
and grasses of the red rock
desert with photographs
and full descriptions of
about half these plants.
A handy booklet with
descriptions and color
photos of 83 of the common
wildowers in Utah.
Descriptions and color
photos organized by ower
color.
Anne Orth Epple. Falcon
Guides, 19 97.
Deborah J. Clark. Published
by Impact Photographics
Inc. 2009.
James Ells. Colorado
Mountain Club, 2012.
Anne Duri and Dave
Montgomery. Red Shoe
Guides, 2018.
Anne Duri and Dave
Montgomery. Red Shoe
Guides, 2015.
Peter Lesica and Walter
Fertig. Published by Trillium
Press, 2018.
Roger Banner, Mindy Pratt,
James Bowns, and Chad
Reid. Utah State University
Cooperative Extension,
Logan, UT, 2013.
Richard M. Anderson,
JayDee Gunnell, Jerry L.
Goodspeed. Utah State
University Press, Logan, UT,
2012.
Arizona
Central Utah
Colorado
Southeast Utah and
adjacent states
Southeast Utah and
adjacent states
Southeast Utah and
adjacent states
Utah
New Mexico,
Colorado, Wyoming,
Idaho, Utah, Nevada
and Oregon
TITLE
GEOGRAPHIC
FOCUS
DESCRIPTION
AUTHORS AND
PUBLISHER
4
Woody Plants trees and shrubs)
*
Pocket Guide to Sagebrush
Rocky Mountain Region
Willow Identication Field
Guide
Sagebrush of Colorado:
taxonomy, distribution,
ecology & management
Trees of Utah and the
Intermountain West: A Guide
to Identication and Use
*
Woody Plants of
Utah: A Field Guide with
Identication Keys to Native
and Naturalized Trees,
Shrubs, Cacti, and Vines
Western U.S.
Colorado and
Wyoming and east
to 100th meridian
Colorado
Utah and
surrounding states
Utah
A small, handy booklet with
descriptions, drawings,
and color photos of most
sagebrush species of the
Western U.S.
Dichotomous keys,
descriptions, color photos
of 36 willow species of the
Rocky Mountains.
Dichotomous keys,
descriptions, color photos,
of all sagebrush species of
Colorado.
Dichotomous keys,
descriptions and drawings
of 219 trees species found
in Utah, which includes all
native species and some
introduced species.
Dichotomous keys,
descriptions and color
photos of all 385 native
woody species of Utah and
some introduced species.
Leila Shultz. PRBO
Conservation Science, 2012.
Robert D. Dorn. USDA Forest
Service, Rocky Mountain
Region, Denver CO, 1997.
Alma H. Winward. Colorado
Division of Wildlife,
Department of Natural
Resources, 2004.
Michael Kuhns. Utah State
University Press, Logan,
Utah, 1998.
Renee Van Buren, Janet G.
Cooper, Leila M. Shultz, and
Kimball T. Harper. Utah State
University Press, Logan,
Utah, 2011.
TITLE
GEOGRAPHIC
FOCUS
DESCRIPTION
AUTHORS AND
PUBLISHER
5
Graminoids grasses and grass-like plants)
Field Guide to Intermountain
Rushes
Field Guide to Intermountain
Sedges
*
Grasses and Grasslike
Plants of Utah: A Field Guide
Grasses of the Intermountain
Region
Utah, Nevada,
southeastern
Oregon, western
Wyoming and
southern Idaho
Utah, Nevada,
southeastern
Oregon, western
Wyoming and
southern Idaho
Utah
Utah and area
between the Sierra
Nevada and Rocky
Mountains
Descriptions, drawings, and
color photos of 23 of both
common and less abundant
rushes.
Descriptions, drawings, and
color photos of about 112
of both common and less
abundant sedges.
A compact, spiral-bound
booklet handy to carry in a
daypack, with descriptions
and color photos of 53 of
the common grass and
grass-like plants of Utah.
Technical botany book
with dichotomous keys,
descriptions, drawings,
maps, for nearly all
grass species of the
Intermountain Region.
Emerenciana G. Hurd,
Sherel Goodrich, Nancy L.
Shaw. USDA Forest Service,
1997.
Emerenciana G. Hurd,
Nancy L. Shaw, Joy
Mastrogiuseppe, Lynda C.
Smithman, Sherel Goodrich.
USDA Forest Service, 1998.
Roger Banner, Mindy
Pratt, and James Bowns.
Utah State University
Cooperative Extension.
Logan, UT. Second edition
in 2011.
Laurel K. Anderton and
Mary E. Barkworth. Utah
State University Press,
Logan, UT, 2009.
Apps free for phone and tablet)
iNaturalist
PlantNet
PlantSnap
*
Wildower Identication
App
international
international
international
Utah, Colorado,
New Mexico and
Arizona (separate
app for each state)
App links to the iNaturalist.org
website where you can post
photos of plants and others
will identify them.
Allows you to upload photos
of plants and see possible
species that match. Others will
oer identications as well.
Allows you to upload photos
of plants and see possible
species that match. Others will
oer identications as well.
Includes photos, distribution
maps and brief descriptions
for most plants of the state of
interest. You can enter criteria
(such as location, ower color
and date) and possible plants
will be shown.
WildowerSearch.org
TITLE
GEOGRAPHIC
FOCUS
DESCRIPTION
AUTHORS AND
PUBLISHER
6
Web sites
Flora of North America
iDigBio
iNaturalist.org
Intermountain Region
Herbaria Network
Southwest Colorado
Wildowers
USDA PLANTS Database
Utah Native Plant Society
Utah Wildowers
Wildower Search
Wildowers of Utah
North America
International
International
Region between the
Sierra Nevada and
the Rocky Mountains
Colorado, New
Mexico, Arizona &
Utah
U.S.
Utah
Utah
North America
Utah
Keys, descriptions, distribution
maps and images of all plants
of North America.
Data and images for millions
of biological specimens are
available in electronic format.
You can post photos of plants
and others will identify them.
Descriptions, images of
specimens, distribution maps of
species of the intended area.
Images, basic descriptions
and distribution maps of
wildowers, shrubs, trees and
ferns of the intended area.
Searches can be done according
to criteria such as ower color,
leaf type, and habitat.
Database with basic
information and maps of
all plants in the U.S.
Resources about native plants
and rare plants of Utah.
Photos of some of the beautiful
wildowers of Utah (Capitol
Reef National Park in particular).
Includes photos, distribution
maps and brief descriptions
for most plants of the state of
interest. You can enter criteria
(such as location, ower color
and date) and possible plants
will be shown. This organization
also produces the Wildower
Identication App (for
individual states) listed above.
Photos and basic descriptions
of wildowers of Utah.
http://www.eoras.org/
ora_page.aspx?ora_id=1
https://www.idigbio.org/
https://www.inaturalist.org/
http://intermountainbiota.
org/portal/index.php
http://www.swcolorado
wildowers.com/index.htm
https://plants.sc.egov.usda.
gov/java/
https://www.unps.org/
index.html
https://user.xmission.
com/~nelsonb/wildower.
htm
https://wildowersearch.
org/
https://www.american
southwest.net/plants/
wildowers/utah.shtml
TITLE
GEOGRAPHIC
FOCUS
DESCRIPTION
AUTHORS AND
PUBLISHER
7
Weeds
An Illustrated Guide to
Arizona Weeds
Colorado Noxious Weeds
Noxious Weed Field Guide for
Utah
Troublesome Weeds of New
Mexico
Weeds of the West
Arizona
Colorado
Utah
New Mexico
Western U.S.
Information on
identication, land-use
factors, and control
methods for weeds of
Arizona.
Descriptions and images
of 105 noxious weeds of
Colorado.
Photos and basic
descriptions of 54 weeds of
Utah.
Descriptions, maps and
photos of 45 weeds of New
Mexico.
Basic descriptions and
color photos of about
300 unwanted plants,
particularly concerned with
areas around homes and
farms (mostly introduced
plants but interestingly,
it includes a few native
plants).
Kittie F. Parker, University
of Arizona Press; 2nd ed.
Edition, 1972
Center for Invasive Species
and Ecosystem Health.
Invasive.org
Brenda Jarvis Lowry,
Corey V. Ransom, Ralph E.
Whitesides, and
Heather Olsen. Utah State
University Cooperative
Extension, Logan, UT, 4th
edition.
Jamshid Ashigh, James
Wanstall and Frank
Sholedice
College of Agricultural,
Consumer and
Environmental Sciences,
New Mexico State
University, 2010.
Tom D. Whitson, Larry C.
Burrill, Steven A. Dewey,
David W. Cudney, B.E.
Nelson, Richard D. Lee,
Robert Parker. Western
Society of Weed Science
in cooperation with the
Western United States
Land Grant Universities
Cooperative Extension
Services and the University
of Wyoming, 2012.
TITLE
GEOGRAPHIC
FOCUS
DESCRIPTION
AUTHORS AND
PUBLISHER
8
Wetland Plants
Common Wetland Plants of
Colorado’s Southern Rocky
Mountains: A Pocket Guide
Common Wetland Plants of
Colorado’s Western Slope: A
Pocket Guide
Field Guide to Colorado’s
Wetland Plants: Identication,
Ecology and Conservation
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Descriptions, drawings and
photos for 284 wetland
species of southern
Colorado.
Descriptions, drawings and
photos for 159 wetland
species of Western
Colorado.
Descriptions, distribution
maps, drawings and photos
of 639 aquatic and wetland
plant species of Colorado.
Denise R. Culver. Colorado
Natural Heritage Program,
Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO, 2018.
Denise R. Culver. Colorado
Natural Heritage Program,
Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO, 2018.
Denise R. Culver & Joanna
M. Lemly. Colorado
Natural Heritage Program,
Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO, 2013.
Rare Plants
A collaboration of agencies
and organizations produced
this guide, published by the
U.S. Government Printing
Oce, 2001.
Colorado Natural Heritage
Program. 1997+. Colorado
Rare Plant Guide. Latest
update: August 30, 2019.
New Mexico Rare Plant
Technical Council. 1999.
New Mexico Rare Plants.
Albuquerque, NM. Latest
update: 12 February 2019.
Utah Native Plant Society.
2003-2020. Utah rare plant
guide. [Internet]. Frates AJ,
editor/coordinator. Salt
Lake City, UT.
Descriptions of more
than 125 rare species of
Arizona, with phenology,
management responsibility,
range, drawings, and color
photos.
Descriptions of 173
rare plants of Colorado,
including phenology,
distribution (text and a
map), habitat, conservation
issues, photographs, and
technical botanical artwork.
Descriptions of 237 rare
plants of New Mexico with
maps and conservation
considerations.
Descriptions of 289 rare taxa
of Utah, including maps and
photos.
Arizona
Colorado
New Mexico
Utah
Arizona Rare Plant Guide
Colorado Rare Plant Guide
New Mexico Rare Plants
Utah Rare Plant Guide
TITLE
GEOGRAPHIC
FOCUS
DESCRIPTION
AUTHORS AND
PUBLISHER
9
Floras highly technical)
A Utah Flora
Canotia: Flora of Arizona
(on-line pdfs)
Colorado Flora Western Slope:
A Field Guide to the Vascular
Plants
Flora Neomexicana III: An
Illustrated Identication
Manual
Flora of Colorado
Flora of the Four Corners
Region: Vascular Plants of
the San Juan River Drainage
Arizona, Colorado, New
Mexico, and Utah
Intermountain Flora
Uinta Flora
Utah
Arizona
Western Colorado
New Mexico
Colorado
Four Corners area
(San Juan River
Watershed)
Intermountain West
Uinta Basin and
Uinta Mountains
Technical botany book with
dichotomous keys and
descriptions for 3,000 species,
which includes all the native
species and some (about 500)
introduced species.
Technical documents with
dichotomous keys and
descriptions of all plants in
selected families of Arizona
(entire ora is not nished yet).
Includes range maps and some
illustrations or photos.
Technical botany book with
dichotomous keys and
descriptions for all species of
Western Colorado; with
additional amusing
commentary.
Technical botany book with
dichotomous keys and
descriptions for 3,783 vascular
plant species of New Mexico.
Technical botany book with
dichotomous keys and
descriptions of all plants of
Colorado; includes color
photographs for nearly 1/3 of
the species.
Technical botany book with
dichotomous keys and
descriptions of 2,117 plant
species of the Four Corners
region.
Technical botany books with
dichotomous keys and
descriptions of all plants of the
Intermountain Region.
Technical botany book with
dichotomous keys and
descriptions of about 1,700
species of the Uinta Mountains
and Basin.
Stanley L. Welsh, N. Duane
Atwood, Sherel Goodrich, and
Larry C. Higgens. In Great
Basin Naturalist Memoirs.
Brigham Young University,
Provo, UT. 5th edition in 2015.
Les Landrum, editor, Arizona
State University.
William A. Weber and Ronald
C. Wittmann. University Press
of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
2012.
Kelly Allred (printed on
demand through Amazon)
2012.
Jennifer Ackereld. Botanical
Research Institute of TX, 2015.
Kenneth D. Heil, Steve L.
O’Kane Jr., Linda Mary Reeves,
and Arnold Cliord. Missouri
Botanical Garden Press, St
Louis, MO, 2013.
Multiple volumes, with
multiple authors, including by
Arthur Cronquist, Noel H.
Holmgren, Patricia K.
Holmgren, J.L. Reveal among
others, published by New
York Botanical Garden over a
period of many years.
Sherel Goodrich and Allen
Huber. U.S. Forest Service
Intermountain Region,
Ogden, Utah, 2014.
10
DEFINITIONS (for budding botanists)
Dichotomous key – A series of choices between alternative plant characters that lead to identication of the
species. Here is an example (for the genus Lathyrus from A Utah Flora):
Leaets 2; stem winged; plants introduced, annual or perennial.
or
Leaets 4 or more; stems angled but not winged; plants indigenous, perennial.
Endemic – “Restricted in distribution to a particular geographic region” (Walters and Keil 1996).
Flora – A very detailed botanical publication that lists “The plants growing in a region;… with descriptions and
keys for identication” (Walters and Keil 1996).
Forb – Herbaceous owering plant that is not a graminoid. Forbs are what we generally think of as wildowers,
with their colorful owers.
Graminoid – Herbaceous plant with a grass-like form, meaning elongated stems with long, blade-like leaves.
Common graminoids are grasses, rushes and sedges.
Herbaceous – “A plant with little or no above-ground perennial woody tissue, usually dying or dying back to the
ground level at the end of the growing season; some herbs…have subterranean woody rhizomes” (Walters
and Keil 1996).
Introduced plant – A plant that is not native to an area, meaning it does not grow there naturally. Introduced (or
non-native) plants were brought from somewhere else, such as plants brought (intentionally or accidentally)
from Europe to North America.
Native plant – A plant that naturally occurs in an area; it was not introduced from somewhere else.
Noxious plant – Noxious is typically a legal or formal designation by an entity (such as a state) to promote eorts
to eradicate or control an undesirable plant (weed) that aggressively colonizes areas and often displaces native
plants or desired plants (such as crops). A noxious plant is usually an introduced plant.
Phenology – The timing of plant growth and owering.
Shrub – “A low woody plant with one to many relatively slender trunks” (Walters and Keil 1996).
Taxonomy – The science of naming, describing and classifying plants.
Tree – “A woody plant with one to few relatively massive trunks and a more or less elevated crown” (Walters and
Keil 1996).
Weed – An undesirable plant. It is usually an introduced plant, but not necessarily. Farmers sometimes think of
some native plants as weeds because they compete with their crops.
Woody plant – Plants with above-ground woody stems that live for many years, in contrast to herbaceous plants
whose above-ground stems die each year. Shrubs, trees and vines are the common woody plants.
Harris, James G. and Melinda Woolf Harris. 2001 (2nd edition). Plant Identication Terminology: An Illustrated
Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing. Spring Lake, Utah.
Walters, Dirk R. and David J. Keil. 1996. Vascular Plant Taxonomy. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa.
REFERENCES AND RESOURCES