People sometimes ask me what skills are required to learn about and identify plants. Here are some ideas to get you started.
I think the first thing is interest! If you are interested you will be inspired to learn more. For some people, the beauty and diversity of the organism is enough. For others knowing how to use plants for food and medicine motivates them to delver deeper. Others might be interested in conservation, preserving local native species, and reducing populations of invasive species.
The second thing is persistence and practice. You can only get good at anything by trying over and over again. Identification books are a great help, but getting support from an expert is particularly valuable. You have to be patient with yourself, it really does take years to become proficient at identifying local wild plant species.
Another trick that is really valuable is learning to recognize patterns. Understanding plant families can help you learn to quickly identify new plants. This requires some foundational knowledge in plant morphology, in particular flowers are fundamental to accurate identification.
Apps can be a valuable tool, but only if you have the skills to verify that the identification is accurate. Apps should be used in combination with traditional learning techniques, not as a stand alone tool, they are too inaccurate for that. Personally I prefer not to use them, but then I learned how to ID using books many years ago…
Interested in diving in deeper?!
Join me for an upcoming plant walk!