Red Deer River Naturalists Identify Midspeing Blooms

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YNC

Mid-Spring Blooms in the Red Deer River Basin

This short key is provided to help the amateur naturalists become acquainted with some common spring blooms. It will not identify every plant you may come across. For other plants, please refer to some of the excellent books available at your local bookstore and at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre.

Mid-Spring Blooms Identification Key Red Deer Region
Instructions
Read the pairs or triplets of statements and select the best one. Go to the place in the key indicated by the number in the second column.
Please Note : this Identification Key is based on enquiries from the public that have been received by Red Deer College instructors over many years.
1. Flowers yellowish white, cream, pale pink or greenish white 1. Flowers either pure white or distinctly colored	2. 9.
2. Flowers greenish white 2. Flowers yellowish white, cream or pinkish white	3. 4.
3. Flowers missing petals, have greenish sepals, dangling anthers 3. Flowers with finely divided petals, 5 white sepals, tiny plant	Meadow Rue Bishop's Cap	Meadow rue (female) Meadow Rue (male) Bishop's cap
4. Flowers yellowish white or creamy 4. Flowers pinkish white	5. 7.
5. Pea-like flowers, plant with grasping tendrils 5. Flowers not pea-like, no tendrils	Creamy Pea Vine 6.	Pea vine
6. Bell-like flower, plant has narrow leaves 6. Dangling flowers on low bush, five-lobed toothed leaves	Fairy Bells Blackcurrant	Fairy bells
7. Dangling bell-like flower 7. Not like above, flowers with red spots or stripes, stems coral colored	8. Coral Root Orchid	Coral-root orchid
8. Pink streaks on petals that bend back slightly, not a shrub 8. No pink streaks, in a dense cluster on a low shrub	Spreading Dogbane Snowberry	Spreading dogbane Snowberry
9. Flowers white 9. Flowers not white	10. 26.
10. Individual flowers small, under 4 mm 10. Individual flowers variable but 6 mm - 30 mm	11. 17.
11. Flowers grouped in flat topped arrangement (umbel) 11. Flowers grouped in a ball or vertical spike	12. 13.
12. Flowers on a tall shrub with bright red stems 12. Flowers papery, on a stalk coming from a basal rosette of leaves	Red Osier Dogwood Low Everlasting	Red osier dogwood Low everlasting
13. Flowers in a dense terminal cluster 13. Flowers not as above, in a vertical spike or raceme	14. 16.
14. Flowers 3 mm in a cone-like cluster, dark green compound leaves 14. Flower arrangement not as above	Baneberry 15.	Baneberry
15. Flowers minute (3 mm), terminal cluster, whorled leaves 15. Flowers larger (3-5 mm), clusters of 3 to 5, top of stem	Northern Bedstraw Pale Comandra	Pale comandra
16. Flowers 6 mm, in dense spike, short with 2 leaves only 16. Flowers 4-6 mm, loose spike, taller with more than 3 leaves	Wild Lily-of-the-Valley Solomon's Seal	Lily-of-the-valley Solomon's seal
17.Flowers in clusters 17. Flowers solitary	18. 20.
18. Flowers in dense cylindrical cluster, oval leaves sharply toothed, shrub 18. Flowers in a ball-like cluster at end of branch, also shrubs	Chokecherry 19.	Chokecherry
19. Flowers 9-12mm across, narrow petals, leaves oval with apex teeth 19. Flowers 6mm across, round petals, leaves with fine teeth all around 19a. Flowers 12-15 mm, round petals, leaves three lobed, in the shade 19b. As for 19a. but flower cluster surrounded by ring of large sterile flowers	Saskatoon Pin Cherry Lowbush Cranberry Highbush Cranberry	Saskatoon Pin cherry Lowbush cranberry Highbush cranberry
20. Four petals only (actually white leaf bracts), low growing 20. Five petals	Bunchberry 21.	Bunchberry
21. Five petals, each deeply notched like mouse ears 21. Petals not deeply notched	Field Chickweed 22.	Chickweed
22. Pansy-like flower, yellow center, kidney or heart shaped leaves 22. Flower not pansy-like, petal appear all the same size and shape	23. Canada Violet	Canada violet
23. Large flower over 25 mm, flower stalk from whorl of leaves 23. Smaller flowers less than 24 mm	Canada Anemone 24.	Canada anemone
24. Flowers on shrub with prickles on stem 2 4. Flowers on low growing herbaceous stem, no prickles	Wild Red Raspberry 25.
25. Flowers 20 mm, leaves with 3 leaflets 25. Flowers 15 mm , leaves with 5 leaflets	Strawberry Dwarf Raspberry	Wild strawberry Dwarf raspberry
26. Flowers yellow 26. Flowers not yellow (blue, red, pink, or purple)	27. 32.
27. Flowers minute (1mm), dense flat top umbel, base leaf heartshaped 27. Flowers larger	Alexanders 28.	Heart-leafed alexander
28. Flowers pea-like, dense terminal spike, leaves have three leaflets 28. Flowers not pea-like, instead tube-like or regular 28. Flowers not pea-like, has large inflated lip or sack, petals twisted	Goldenbean 29. Yellow Ladyslipper	Goldenbean Yellow lady's-slipper
29. Flowers in form of long tube 29. Flowers not in form of a tube	30. 31
30. Flowers with 25mm long trumpet tube with 5 fringed petals 30. Flowers not trumpet like, sitting in a cup-like bract of leaves 30. Flowers 12mm with a spur, low growing cushion plant	Yellow Puccoon Twining Honeysuckle Golden Corydalis	Yellow puccoon Twining honeysuckle
31. Flowers with 5 distinct petals, found on woody shrub 31. Flowers inconspicuous, close to stem of silvery shrub, heavy aroma 31. Not on shrub, low growing, leaves with silvery undersides (3 parts)	Shrubby Cinquefoil Wolfwillow Silverweed	Shrubby cinquefoil Wolfwillow
32. Flowers red or pink 32. Flowers blue or purple	33. 42.
33. Flowers distinctly red 33. Flowers pink to pale pink	34. 37.
34. Flowers in threes, reddish purple sepals, yellow petals barely show 34. Flowers in a small cluster (over 3) or single	Three Flowered Avens 35.	Three-flowered avens
35. Flowers 3-5cm across, woody stems with prickles 35. Flowers 7.5cm across, 7 cm long, spotted with black	36. Wood Lily	Wood lily
36. Flowers dark rose red and cup shaped, 1.5 meter shrub 36. Flowers pink fading to white, flat flowers, low-growing shrub	Wood's Rose Prairie Rose	Wood's rose Prairie rose
37. Flowers small (3mm across), always in pairs, low growing in shade 37. Flowers larger than 3mm, solitary or in spikes	Twinflower 38.	Twinflower
38. Flowers in tall spike, petals 10mm across, nodding, round basal leaves 38. Flowers solitary or in small terminal cluster	Pink Wintergreen 39.	Pink wintergreen
39. Flowers larger (3-7.5 cm across) 39. Flowers smaller( less than 2.5 cm)	40. 41.
40. Flowers on shrub with prickles flowers fade from red to light pink 40. Flowers on herbaceous plant, 3-4 cm across, hairy sticky leaves	36. Sticky Geranium	Sticky geranium
41. Flowers single to 2 or 3, folded up, low growing with 3-5 leaflets 41. Flowers solitary to few, taller plant with whorl of leaves below stalk	Dewberry Cutleaf Anemone	Cut-leaf anenome
42. Flowers pansy-like, low growing with heart shaped leaves 42. Flowers not as above	43. 44.
43. Flowers 2cm across, no apparent stem, in wet areas 43. Flowers less than 2cm, dryer areas, 4-15mm stem, faded blue	Bog Violet Early Blue Violet	Bog violet Early blue violet
44. Flowers pea-like, compound leaves with many leaflets 44. Flowers not pea-like, leaves simple	45. 46.
45. Flowers in a dense cluster at top of plant 45. Flowers spaced, leaves terminate in twining tendril	Purple Milk Vetch Wild Vetch	Wild vetch
46. Flowers bell shaped 46. Flowers not bell shaped, more star shaped with 6 petal/sepals 46. Flowers not bell shaped, dark purple petals (point backwards), yellow throat	47. Blue-eyed Grass Shooting Star	Blue-eyed grass Shooting star
47. Flowers resemble hanging bells, pink in bud turning blue 47. Flowers larger, blue and white, each petal with a spur 47. Flowers larger (10 mm diameter), open bells	Tall Blue Lungwort Small Columbine Harebell	Tall blue lungwort Columbine