About flower colors

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Vascular Plants of the Gorge at
Buttermilk Falls State Park (Ithaca, NY)

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How to select correct colors in the key.

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	. It is recommened that everyone read this page before continuing.
	Basing a key on flower color isn't without complications. What if a flower has two or more colors? Which color should a user select? If one selects the color that is not coded into the key, they will not reach an identification. Consider the following examples.


	For flower (A) shown above, should one choose white or yellow? For flower (B), should one choose yellow of dark brown? For flower (C) pink, violet or white? For flower D, white or pink? It may be best in cases such as these to conclude that whichever color stands out as the most salient at a distance of ten or twenty feet is the one we will code into the key. So, for flower (A) choose white. For flower (B) choose yellow. For flower (C) choose pink. For flower (D) choose white. .

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Flowers that show two shades of the same basic color, like pale violet and
purple (flower E, above), will be coded as "violet"; or bright yellow and dark yellow,
(flower F, above), will be coded as "yellow".

Coding is based primarily on petals, and sometimes on sepals for plants that don't have petals, but it is never based on bracts or involucres, which are usually green and leaf-like.
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For cases in which flowers show two distinctly different colors, one of which is predominant, we will code for the predominant color. The native, wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), which has predominantly red flowers with a splash of yellow, will be coded as "red" (flower G, above). The great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), which has predominantly blue flowers with a white patch, will be coded as "blue"
(flower H, above).
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Anthers of many species are white or yellow, but they will not usually be the basis for coding. Round-lobed hepatica (Hepatica americana), (flower I, above ), will be placed in the group of violet-colored flowers. Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), (flower J, above) will be placed in the group of white flowers.
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Some species are dioecious, meaning that the male and female structures occur on different individuals. Early meadow rue (Thalictrum dioicum), is one such species. Flowers ( K ) have yellow anthers (male), while flowers ( L ) have whitish / greenish stigmas (female). These images are from the same species. In this case, we will place them in the "other" category.
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	. Finally, there are species with greenish (including chartreuse) flowers. They may lack petals or sepals or both. Those that have distinguishable green petals or sepals (or both) will go into the "green" category. The image of flower (M), "wild licorice" (Galium circaezans), and flower (N), "broad-leaved dock", (Rumex obtusifolius), are shown above. Both of those will be placed in the green category. Other species have extremely small, indistinguishable flowers, often in dense clusters. We will place those in an "other" category.
	If you don't find an identification using one color, try choosing another color, or the "other" category.

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