Stan Tekiela - Wildflowers of Wisconsin Field Guide

Edited by Sandy Livoti

Cover, book design and illustrations by Jonathan Norberg

Cover photo: Large-flowered Trillium by Stan Tekiela

All photos copyright by Stan Tekiela unless otherwise noted.

Dudley Edmondson: (main)

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Wildflowers of Wisconsin Field Guide

First Edition 2000, Second Edition 2021

Copyright 2000 and 2021 by Stan Tekiela

Published by Adventure Publications

An imprint of AdventureKEEN

310 Garfield Street South

Cambridge, Minnesota 55008

(800) 678-7006

www.adventurepublications.net

All rights reserved

Printed in China

ISBN 978-1-64755-109-4 (pbk.); ISBN 978-1-64755-110-0 (ebook)

Flowers That Are Mostly Blue

Flowers That Are Mostly Brown

Flowers That Are Mostly Green

Flowers That Are Mostly Orange

Flowers That Have Prominent Pink

Flowers That Are Mostly Purple

Flowers That Are Mostly Red

Flowers That Are Mostly White

Flowers That Are Mostly Yellow

Dedication

To my daughter, Abigail Rose. The sweetest flower in my life.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Kathy Heidel, a very special naturalist with extraordinary knowledge of the wildflowers of Wisconsin. I will always have a special place in my heart for her. And thanks to John D. Jackson, Ph.D., a botanist who continues to guide me through the wonderful world of wildflowers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Wildflowers

WISCONSIN AND WILDFLOWERS

Wisconsin is a great place for wildflower enthusiasts! Our state is at the crossroads of three major vegetative habitats. Each of these vegetative zones contains a wide and often unique variety of wildflowers. Our upper Midwest location is unique because we have a western wildflower influence, an even stronger eastern influence and a strong northern boreal influence. All of this means Wisconsin is fortunate to have an extremely diverse, often unique and certainly a very healthy variety of wonderful wildflowers.

The Wildflowers of Wisconsin Field Guide is an easy-to-use field guide to help the curious nature seeker identify 200 of the most common wildflowers in Wisconsin. It features, with only a few exceptions, the herbaceous wildflowers of Wisconsin. Herbaceous plants have soft green stems and die back to the ground each fall. Only a few plants with woody stems have been included because these particular plants are very common and have large showy flowers.

STRATEGIES FOR IDENTIFYING WILDFLOWERS

Determining the color of the flower is the first step in a simple five-step process to identify a wildflower.

Because this guide is organized by color, identifying an unknown wildflower is as simple as matching the color of the flower to the color section of the book. The color tabs on each page identify the color section.

The second step in determining the identity of a wildflower is the size. Within each color section, the flowers are arranged by the size of the flower, or flower cluster, from small to large. A plant with a single, small, yellow flower will be in the beginning of the yellow section while a large white flower will be towards the end of the white section. Sometimes flowers are made up of many individual flowers in clusters that are perceived to be one larger flower. Therefore, these will be ordered by the size of the cluster, not the individual flower. See for rulers to help estimate flower and leaf size.

Once you have determined the color and approximate size, observe the appearance of the flower. Is it a single flower or cluster of flowers? If it is a cluster, is the general shape of the cluster flat, round or spike? For the single flowers, note if the flower has a regular, irregular, bell or tube shape. Also, counting the number of petals might help to identify these individual flowers. Compare your findings with the descriptions on each page. Examining the flower as described above should result in narrowing the identity of the wildflower down to just a few candidates.

The fourth step is to look at the leaves. There are several possible shapes or types of leaves. Simple leaves have only one leaf blade but can be lobed. Compound leaves have a long central leaf stalk with many smaller leaflets attached. Twice compound leaves have two or more leaf stalks and many leaflets. Sometimes it is helpful to note if the leaves have toothed or smooth margins (edges), so look for this also.

For the fifth step, check to see how the leaf is attached to the stem. Some plants may look similar but have different leaf attachments so this can be very helpful. Look to see if the leaves are attached opposite of each other along the stem, alternately, or whorled around a point on the stem. Sometimes the leaves occur at the base of the plant (basal). Some leaves do not have a leaf stalk and clasp the stem at their base (clasping) and in some cases the stem appears to pass through the base of the leaf (perfoliate).

Using these five steps (color, size, shape, leaves and leaf attachment) will help you gather the clues needed to quickly and easily identify the common wildflowers of Wisconsin.

USING THE ICONS

Sometimes the botanical terms for leaf type, attachment and type of flower can be confusing and difficult to remember. Because of this, we have included icons at the bottom of each page. They can be used to quickly and visually match the main features of the plant to the specimen you are viewing without even needing to completely understand the botanical terms. By using the photos, text descriptions and icons in this field guide, you should be able to quickly and easily identify most of the common wildflowers of Wisconsin.

The icons are arranged from left to right in the following order: flower cluster type, flower type, leaf type, leaf attachment and fruit. The first two flower icons refer to cluster type and flower type. While these are not botanically separate categories, we have made separate icons for them to simplify identification.

Flower Cluster Icons

(icon color is dependent on flower color)

Any cluster (tightly formed group) of flowers can be categorized into one of three cluster types based on its over-all shape. The flat, round and spike types refer to the cluster shape which is easy to observe. Technically there is another cluster type, composite, which appears as a single daisy-like flower but is actually a cluster of many tiny flowers. Because this is often perceived as a flower type, we have included the icon in the flower type section. See for its description.

Some examples of cluster types

Flower Type Icons

(icon color is dependent on flower color)

Botanically speaking, there are many types of flowers but in this guide, we are simplifying them to five basic types. Regular flowers are defined as having a round shape with three or more petals, lacking a disk-like center. Irregular flowers are not round but uniquely shaped with fused petals. Bell flowers are hanging with fused petals. Tube flowers are longer and narrower than bell flowers and point up. Composite flowers (technically a flower cluster) are usually round compact clusters of tiny flowers appearing as one larger flower.