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High-level Taxonomic Menu

Click a clade to browse within that clade.

Seed Plants (Spermatopsida) (Flowering plants, conifers.)

Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Nympheales (water-lilies, a primitive group)
Monocots (grasses, lilies, orchids)
Dicots (broad-leaved flowering plants)

Pinales (conifers)

Other Land Plants (Mosses, club-mosses, ferns, horsetails.)
Unidentified Plants

David Albeck's Photos of Plants

Here you'll find my photos of all kinds of plants. The organization is taxonomic, but I started with almost zero knowledge of botany and have changed my mind a few times about whether to go with Cronquist, APG III, or some other system. My goal is to come up with a layout that a) won't overstrain most Internet connections, b) allows non-botanists (including myself) to find things fairly quickly, and c) isn't completely wrong (give or take a decade or two of genetic research), but d) I don't have a lot of time to update or correct this section of my website, so it may stay in an incomplete or transitional state for a while.

I've included descriptions of most groups, but I practically guarantee that some of the descriptions are oversimplified to the point of being erroneous. This is a photo index first and an introduction to botany second.

If you're not sure what you're looking for, try the visual menu of plant families instead.

Not sure what you're seeking? Try the visual menu of plant families.

Nympheales (water-lilies and close relatives)

plantae > angiosperms > Nympheales back to top

Once lumped with the dicots, the water-lily family (and two related families) are now thought to be a separate evolutionary branch.

Please click through to my Nympheales page.

Monocots (grasses, lilies, orchids)

plantae > angiosperms > monocots back to top

The name "monocotyledon" refers to the shape of their seeds - look very closely at a kernel of corn (maize): there's an embryonic plant stem at the base, and the rest of the seed is a single nutrient-stuffed leaf (the plant equivalent of a yolk sac). In contrast, a dicot has two such leaves - that's why you can split a chickpea.

Think of monocots and you should probably think of grasses. It's no big surprise that sedges and rushes are monocots too, if you even realize they aren't true grasses. But lilies and orchids are also monocots, and so are palm trees and banana trees.

Monocots have flowers with petals in multiples of three (though highly modified in most orchids) and major leaf veins arranged in parallel ribs (never branching).

Please click through to my Monocots page.

Dicots (most flowering plants)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots back to top

The name "dicotyledon" refers to the shape of their seeds - look at a pea or bean and you'll notice you can split it nearly in half: it consists of two hemispherical leaves attached to a tiny plant embryo.

Dicots have flowers with petals in multiples of four or five, and leaves with branching veins. They're a huge and diverse group, so they don't have much more in common (at least nothing as easy to recognize). Many dicots are either Asterids or Rosids; some are neither.

Asterids

One of the large unranked clades (larger than an order) of dicots, Asterids include, naturally, the Aster family, but also some rather un-aster-like families such as morning glories and rhododendrons.

Please click through to my Asterids page.

Rosid Orders and Families

Bittersweet order (Celastrales)
- Bittersweet family (Celastraceae)
Legume order (Fabales)
- Legume family (Fabaceae): includes clovers and peas
Geranium order (Geraniales)
- Geranium family (Geraniaceae)
Malpighia order (Malpighiales)
- Passion-flower family (Passifloracae)
Myrtle order (Myrtales)
- Willowherb family (Onagraceae)
Rose order (Rosales)
- Rose family (Rosaceae): includes strawberries and cherries
Mallow order (Malvales)
- Mallow family (Malvaceae)
Other Rosids

Rosids

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids

Bittersweet order (Celastrales)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Celastrales

Bittersweet Family (Celastraceae)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Celastrales > Celastraceae

Euonymus sp.

Local Pond

Asiatic Bittersweet

Local Ponds

Legume order (Fabales)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Fabales

Legume Family (Fabaceae)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Fabales > Fabaceae

A group of herbs that includes peas, soybeans, and peanuts, as well as clover and alfalfa. Most of them have a sort of L-shaped petal arrangement, bear seeds in pods, and have root nodules in which symbiotic bacteria supply them with nitrogen from the air.

Alaskan Lupine
Lupinus nootkatensis

Skagastrond

Lupine

Warmiwanuska

Lupine

Mt Dickerman

Lupine

South Sister

Red Clover, Trifolium pratense

The Pinnacle

Red Clover
Trifolium pratense

Mt. Tripyramid

birdsfoot trefoil

Charles River

birdsfoot trefoil

July 4, 2008

Geranium order (Geraniales)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Geraniales

Geranium Family (Geraniaceae)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Geraniales > Geraniaceae

Includes Geraniums, of course: both the the garden plant commonly called "geranium", which is genus Pelargonium, and genus Geranium, the cranesbills. (Blame Charles L'Heritier for splitting Linnaeus' genus Geranium in two in 1789.)

Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum

Local Pond

Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum

Local Pond

Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum

Ponkapoag

Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum

Ponkapoag

geranium sp.

Parc de la Vanoise

Malpighia order (Malpighiales)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Malpighiales

Named after a botanist.

Passion-flowers (Passifloraceae)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Malpighiales > Passifloraceae

Passion-Flower

Breton Life

passion-flower

Butterfly World

passion-flower

Butterfly World

passion-flower

Butterfly World

passion-flower

Butterfly World

Other Malpighiales

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Malpighiales > Other

Red Mangrove
Rhizophora mangle

Merritt Island

Willow
Salix sp.

Signs of Spring

Willow
Salix sp.

Signs of Spring

Viola sp.

Ponkapoag

violet
Viola sp.

Mt Madison

Birds-Foot Violet, Viola pedata

Prospect Hill

Myrtle order (Myrtales)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Myrtales

Loosestrife Family (Lythraceae)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Myrtales > Lythraceae

Purple Loose-strife

Local Pond

Purple Loose-strife

Yet More Pond Life

Willowherb Family (Onagraceae)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Myrtales > Onagraceae

Fuchsia sp

Winaywayna

Fuchsia sp

Warmiwanuska

Fuchsia sp

Winaywayna

fireweed

Netedu

fireweed
Chamerion angustifolium

Parc de la Vanoise

fireweed
Chamerion angustifolium

Parc de la Vanoise

Rose order (Rosales)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Rosales

Rose Family (Rosaceae)

plantae > angiosperms > dicots > rosids > Rosales > Rosaceae

A large family with five-petaled flowers, whose petals are often white or pink. Many members bear edible fruit. Plants range from low creepers (strawberries and cinquefoil) to thorny vines (roses and blackberries) to woody trees (cherries, apples, peaches, almonds, rowan).

Alpine Avens