Northeast Wetland Flora: Field Office Guide to Plant Species

This Field Guide was prepared by Biotic Consultants, Incorporated, of
Carbondale, Illinois, under Contract #53-2D81-3-1. All descriptions have been
written by Robert H. Mohlenbrock. Mark Mohlenbrock prepared all of the
illustrations. All maps were prepared by Trent Mohlenbrock. Beverly Mohlenbrock
typed all the drafts of the manuscript and assisted with the photography and
field work. Typesetting was provided by Wendy Mohlenbrock Preece. Mark
Mohlenbrock and Aart-werk Graphic Design, Incorporated, of Tempe, Arizona,
prepared the camera-ready copy for the entire guide. Robert H. Mohlenbrock took
the photos except the following: Lee Casebere (Drosera rotundifolia, Geum
rivale, Melanthium virginicum, Zigadenus glaucus), Kenneth Dritz (Alnus rugosa,
Salix lucida), Rich Dunbar (Hypericum pyramidatum), George Folkerts (Zigadenus
glaberrimus), Lynden Gerdes (Populus balsamifera), Mike Homoya (flower of
Cypripedium reginae, Goodyera pubescens), Norman C. Melvin (leaf of Quercus
falcata), W. Carl Taylor (Isoetes engelmannii, Lycopodium annotinum), Tom
Ulrich (Cypripedium candidum), and Edward G. Voss (Eriophorum spissum, E.
viridi-carinatum [habit view], Potamogeton amplifolius, Potamogeton epihydrus,
Potamogeton gramineus).

The swampbuster provision of the Food Security Act of 1985 requires the Natural
Resources Conservation Service to make wetland/converted wetland determinations
based on the presence of hydric soils and hydrophytic vegetation. This is
necessary to assist the United States Department of Agriculture program
agencies in determining producer eligibility for USDA program benefits. The
material contained in this illustrated wetland guide will enable persons,
regardless of their botanical background, to identify the plants included in
this guide.

Three hundred species of vascular plants were chosen for inclusion in this
guide by the staff biologist of the Natural Resource Conservation Service
Northeast National Technical Center in Chester, Pennsylvania, after
consultation with each Natural Resources Conservation Service state biologist
in the northeast region.

Norman C. Melvin, State Plant Ecologist, Maryland Natural Resources
Conservation Service, and Robert W. Franzen, Wildlife Biologist, Northeast
Technical Center, Natural Resources Conservation Service, conducted technical
review in all phases of development and publication of this document.

The presentation of each of the 300 species is included on two pages. The
plants are arranged by groups. Within each group they are further arranged
alphabetically by genus, and then alphabetically by species within each genus.
The front of each page gives the common and scientific names of the plant,
following the National List of Plant Species that Occur in Wetlands: Region 1,
prepared by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1988 (Biological
report 88 [26.1]). The scientific name consists of two Latin names. The first
is called the genus name, the second is the species name. After these two Latin
names is one or more abbreviation(s) that stand for the name (or names) of the
botanist(s) who first gave the plant its correct scientific name. These
abbreviated names are referred to as the authority. This is followed by the
plant family name and a statement indicating the months of the year that the
flower is in bloom. Under the category entitled Field Marks is the combination
of characters that distinguishes the species from any others. The remainder of
the front page has a black-and-white illustration of the entire plant and, as
needed, a close-up illustration of one or more of the parts of the plant.

On the back of each page is one or more colored photograph(s) of the species
and a map showing the distribution of the species in the United States. The
distribution map was compiled after consultation of all existing floras of the
United States. The map gives only a general range of the species. A state which
is completely covered by the pattern does not necessarily mean that the plant
occurs in every county, although it might be expected in every county.

The remainder of the back page is devoted to a description of the plant,
including characteristics of the habitat in which it is found, the growth form,
stems, leaves, flowers (sepals, petals, stamens, pistils), and fruits. Useful
or other features of the plant are included under Notes. Since the most
frequently used recent general flora for the northeastern states is Manual of
Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, Second
Edition, by Gleason and Cronquist (The New York Botanical Garden, 1991), any
plant names used in that book that differ from the names used in this manual
are given under Notes.

To use the guide, one identifies the plant to group, either with the key or
from experience and prior knowledge, and then refers to the plant description.
If the plant is not encountered in the descriptions, it is not covered by this
guide, and the investigator must consult other references.

The information for this metadata was partially taken from the Northern Prairie
Wildlife Research Center website at
"http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/"