The following alphabetic list, by family, reflects species currently in the LCCC herbarium or listed on the College (Satellite) Mountain Land Inventory that was completed by LCCC faculty in 1984 (unpublished). Family decriptions are taken from Porter (1968) and Dorn (1988). Page number references following each family name correspond to the text "Vascular Plants of Wyoming" (Dorn 1988). It is strongly recommended that one consult this source when attempting to identify plants to the species level.

Number of hits since this counter was installed on 1/16/2000:

Trees or shrubs; opposite leaves, either simple and palmately lobed or compound and pinnate; flowers small, regular; sepals 5; petals usually 5 or none; stamens 3-12; pistil 1, of 2 weakly united carpels; ovary superior; fruit a paired samara, the wings with prominent veins.

Acer glabrum Torr. - Rocky Mtn. Maple

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

2. APIACEAE Parsnip Family (page 32)

Aromatic herbs; leaves alternate or basal, usually compound having petioles dilated and sheathing the stem; flowers small, usually in compound umbels, epigynous, without a hypanthium, regular or somewhat irregular; sepals 5, sometimes minute or obsolete; petals 5, usually white or yellow; stamens 5; pistil 1, of 2 united carpels; styles 2; ovary inferior, 2-celled and 2-seeded; fruit a schizocarp (the 2 carpels separating at maturity into 2 1-seeded mericarps).

Angelica ampla - Ample Angelica

Conioselinum scopulorum - Rocky Mountain Hemlock Parsley

Cymopterus lemmonii - Lemmon Spring Parsley

Harbouria trachypleura (Gray) Coult. &Rose - Harbouria

Heracleum sphondylium (L.) Michx. Dorn var. lanataum - Hogweed Cowparsnip

Lomatium orientale Coult. &Rose - Biscuitroot

Osmorhiza chilensis - Chilean Sweet Cicely

Osmorhiza depauperata Phil. - Long Style Sweetroot

Sanicula marilandica L. - Black Sanicle

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Annuals; leaves simple, usually entire, alternate or opposite; flowers bisexual or unisexual, regular or slightly irregular, usually subtended by scarious bracts, in racemes, spikes, or axillary clusters; sepals 3-5, 1-4 mm long, usually dry and membranous, separate or not; petals none; stamens 1-5, the filaments often united into a tube; ovary 1, superior; styles 1-3; fruit usually a utricle or nutlet.

Amaranthus blitoides - Creeping Pigweed

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

4. APOCYNACEAE Dogbane Family (page 41)

Rhizomatous herbs, juice milky; leaves simple, opposite, entire; flowers bisexual, regular, in cymes; sepals 5, united; petals 5, united; stamens 5, alternate with corolla lobes and attached to tube; ovaries 2, superior or nearly so; style 1, very short and enlarged; fruit a follicle.

Apocynum medium Green - Dogbane

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference

5. ASTERACEAE Sunflower Family (page 43)

Herbs or shrubs of various aspects; flowers in dense heads on a common receptacle that is surrounded below by an involucre of several to many bracts, each head often appearing like a single flower, epigynous, quite small, with united petals, all tubular, all ligulate (with strap-shaped corollas that are usually conspicuous and larger than the tubular ones), or the central (disk) flowers with tubular corollas and the marginal (ray) flowers with ligulate corollas; stamens 5, attached to the corolla tube and usually united by their anthers into a ring through which the style is projected; pistil 1; ovary inferior; style single but cleft into 2 stigmas at the summit; fruit from each flower (if fertile) an achene that is crowned by a late-developing calyx (the pappus) composed of hairs, bristles, awns, or scales.

Achillea millefolium L. - Common Yarrow

Agoseris glauca var. lacinata (Eaton) Smiley - False Dandelion

Antennaria anaphaloides Rybd. - Pearly Pussytoes

Antennaria microphylla Rydb. - Littleleaf Pussytoes

Antennaria parvifolia Nutt. - Smallleaf Pussytoes

Arnica cordifolia Hook. - Heartleaf Arnica

Arnica fulgens - Gleaming Arnica

Artemisia campestris - Northern Sagewort

Artemisia dracunculus - Tarragon Sagewort

Artemisia frigida Willd. - Fringed Sagewort

Artemisia ludoviciana - Louisiana Sagewort

Artemisia tridentata - Big Sagebrush

Artemisia tripartita - Three-lip Sagebrush

Aster glucodes - Glaucous Aster

Aster laevis - Smooth Aster

Bahia dissecta (Gray) Britt. - Ragleag Bahia

Brickellia grandiflora (Hook.) Nutt. - Tasselflower Brickellbush

Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus - Douglas Rabbitbrush

Cirsium arvense - Thistle

Cirsium canescens Nutt. - Thistle

Cirsium pulcherrimum - Beautiful Thistle

Crepis acuminata Nutt. - Tapertip Hawksbeard

Crepis modocensis - Yellowstone Hawksbeard

Erigeron caespitosus - Caespitose Fleabane

Erigeron compositus Pursh var. discoideus Gray - Fernleaf Fleabane

Erigeron flagellaris Gray - Trailing Fleabane

Erigeron pumulis Nutt. - Low Fleabane

Erigeron speciousus - Showy Fleabane

Erigeron vetensis - Glandular Fleabane

Gaillardia aristata Pursh - Common Gaillardia

Grindelia squarrosa - Common Gumweed

Grindelia subalpina Greene - Gumweed

Helianthus petiolaris - Prairie Sunflower

Helianthus pumilus Nutt. - Sunflower

Heterotheca villosa (Pursh) Shinners var. villosa - Telegraph plant

Hymenoxys acaulis (Pursh) Parker - Stemless Actinea

Liatris punctata Hook. - Dotted Grayfeather

Machaeranthera linearis Greene

Rudbeckia laciniata - Laciniate Coneflower

Senecio canus - Wooly Groundsel

Senecio fendleri Gray - Fendler Groundsel

Senecio hydrophilus - Water Groundsel

Senecio integerrimus Nutt. var. exaltatus (Nutt.) Cronq. - Lambstounge Groundel

Senecio rapifolius - Rock Groundsel

Senecio spartioides var. fremontii (T.?.);Greene ex Ulms - Broom Groundsel

Solidago canadensis - Canada Goldenrod

Solidago missouriensis Nutt. var. fasculuata Holz. - Missouri Goldenrod

Taraxacum officinale Weber. - Dandelion

Townsendia hookeri Beaman - Hoary Townsendia

Tragopogon dubius Scop. - Yellow Salsify

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

6. BERBERIDACEAE Barberry Family (page 87)

Low shrubs; leaves alternate, pinnately compound, leathery; leaflets spine-toothed; flowers small, yellow, hypogynous, regular; sepals 6; petals 6; stamens 6, opposite the petals, the anthers opening by terminal valves; pistil 1, becoming fruit a 1-3 seeded berry with a bluish color fruit.

Mahonia repens (Lindl.) G. Don - Barberry

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

7. BETULACEAE Birch Family (page 88)

Trees or shrubs; leaves alternate, simple, often doubly serrated and sometimes lobed; flowers unisexual, at least the male flowers produced in catkins and sometimes that female flowers also in catkins, both male and female catkins produced on the same plant, the plants thus monoecious; fruit a small nutlet, with or without wings, or sometimes (inCorylus, the Hazelnut of northeastern Wyoming) a larger nut enclosed in united, leafy bracts of an involucre.

Alnus incana L. - Alder

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

8. BORAGINACEAE Borage Family (page 89)

Smooth or bristly-hairy herbs; leaves alternate, entire; flowers regular, hypogynous; sepals 5, united below; petals 5, united below into a slender or funnelform tube, often with appendages at the throat of the corolla forming a corona; stamens 5, attached to the tube of the corolla alternate with its lobes; pistil 1; ovary deeply 4-lobed; style 1, arising from between the ovary lobes; fruit a group of 1-seeded nutlets, or sometimes a single, bone-like nutlet.

Cryptantha celosioides - Northern Miner's Candle

Cryptantha virgata (Porter) Pays. - Cryptantha

Cynoglossum officianle L. - Common Houndstounge

Hackelia floribunda (Lehm.) Johnst. - Western Tickweed

Lappula redowskii (Hernam.) Greene var. redowskii - Blueburr Stickseed

Mertensia ciliata (James ex Torr.) G. Don - Mountain Bluebells

Mertensia lanceolata (Pursh) D.C. ex A. DC - Lanceleaf Bluebells

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

9. BRASSICACEAE Mustard Family (page 95)

Annual or perennial, erect or caespitose herbs with watery and often peppery juice; flowers hypogynous, 4-merous, regular, produced in racemes; sepals 4; petals 4, often with long claws; stamens usually 6, the outer 2 stamens usually 6, the outer 2 stamens short and the inner 4 stamens longer but included in the corolla, and sometimes the stamens only 2; pistil 1, of 2 united carpels joined by a delicate partition that remains on the plant when the fruit split apart; fruit a silique (a rather long fruit) or a silicle (a globose or very short silique); seeds 1 or more in each carpel.

Alyssum desertorum Stapf. - Pale Alyssum

Arabis drummondii Gray - Drummond Rockcress

Arabis glabra - Glabrous Rock Cress

Arabis microphylla - Little-Leaved Rock Cress

Camelina microcarpa Andrz. ex D.C. - Littleseed Falseflax

Descurainia pinnata - Pinnate Tansy Mustard

Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl. - Flixweed Tansymustard

Draba nemorosa L. - Woods Draba

Draba streptocarpa Gray - Draba

Erysimum inconspicuum - Inconspicuous Wallflower

Erysumum asperum var. arkansum (Nutt.) Gray - Plains Wallflower

Lepidium densiflorum Schrad. - Dense-Flowered Pepper Grass

Lepidium ramosissimum A. Nels - Branched Pepperweed

Lesquerella montana (Gray) Wats. - Mountain Bladderpod

Sisymbrium linifolium - Linear-Leaved Hedge Mustard

Thlaspi arvense L. - Penneycress

Thlaspi montanum L. - Alps Pennycress

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

10. CACTACEAE Cactus Family (page 115)

Fleshy stemmed, branched, or unbranched, usually spiny perennials, the leaves in ours none or small, fleshy, linear, and produced only on juvenile shoots and early deciduous; branches, flowers, and spines produced from cushionlike structures called areoles; stems flat or rounded and jointed, or subglobose to cylindric and with ribs or tubercles or both; flowers with several sets of perianth parts, yellow, green, pink, or purple, epigynous, perfect, and regular; stamens numerous; pistil 1, of several united carpels; ovary 1-celled, parietal placentation; style 1; stigmas several; fruit fleshy or dry, with several to many seeds, splitting open regularly or indehiscent.

Opuntia polycantha - Plains Pricklypear

Pediocactus simpsonii - Simpson Barrel Cactus

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Aquatic herbs; leaves simple, opposite, entire; flowers axillary, the 2 sexes often close together to appear like a single flower, monoecious; perianth none (2 bracts present); stamen 1; ovary 1; styles 2; fruit a schizocarp, splitting into 2 or 4 segments with 1 seed each.

Callitriche palustris - Palustrine Water Starwort

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs with milky juice; leaves alternate; flowers epigynous; sepals 5; petals 5, united to form a campanulate (bell-shaped) corolla, regular, blue; stamens 5, free form the corolla; filaments broadened at the base; pistil 1; style single; stigmas 3; ovary inferior, 3-celled; fruit a capsule.

Campanula rotundifolia L. - Bluebell Bellflower

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Dieocious vines; leaves alternate or opposite, simple; flowers mostly regular staminate in racemes or panicles, pistillate in dense clusters; sepals 5, all joined to form a cup in pistillate flowers; petals none; stamens 5; pistil 1; ovary superior; styles 1 or 2; fruit an achene.

Humulus lupulus L. - Woodbind, Wild Hops

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Shrubs; leaves opposite, simple or compound; flowers epigynous, regular to somewhat irregular; sepals 4-5; petals 4-5, united into a short or long tube below; stamens as many as the lobes of the corolla, attached to the corolla tube alternate with its lobes; pistil 1; ovary inferior, 2-5 celled; fruit a berry, sometimes drupaceous or a capsule.

Lonicera involucrata (Richards.) Banks ex Spreng. - Bearberry Honeysuckle

Symphoricarpus albus L. - Common Snowberry

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs, not succulent; leaves opposite, entire; flowers usually in cymes; sepals 4-5, distinct or united below; petals none or usually 4-5; stamens the same number as the sepals or twice as many; pistil 1, of 2-5 united carpel; ovary superior, 1-celled; placentation free-central; styles 2-5; fruit a capsule with a few to many seeds.

Arenaria fendleri Gray - Fendler Sandwort

Cerastium arvense L. - Mouse-eared Chickweed

Lychnis drummondii - Drummond Campion

Paronychia depressa (T. &G.) Nutt. ex A. Nels. - Nailwort

Paronychia sessiliflora - Sessil-Flowered Whitlow-Wort

Silene noctiflora - Night-Flower Catchfly

Stellaria longifolia Muhl. ex Willd. - Longstock Starwort

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs or shrubs; leaves simple, alternate, rarely opposite, sometimes succulent or gray-scurfy; flowers bisexual, or unisexual and the plants monoecious or dioecious, regular or rarely irregular, solitary or clustered in leaf axils or in spikes, racemes, or panicles; sepals usually 5, rarely fewer, usually united, sometimes none; petals none; stamens usually 5, rarely fewer; ovary 1, superior; styles or stigmas 2 or 3; fruit an achene or utricle.

Chenopodium berlanderi - Berlandier Goosefoot

Chenopodium fremontii - Fremont Goosefoot

Chenopodium glaucum - Glaucous Goosefoot

Monolepis nuttalliana (Schult.) Greene - Nuttall Monolepis

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Fibrous rooted herbs; leaves simple, lance-linear or linear, alternate, sheathing; flowers bisexual, mostly regular, in a cyme or umbel or solitary; sepals 3, green, separate; petals 3, blue, usually separate; stamens 6, filaments usually villous; pistil 1; ovary superior; style 1; locules 1-3; ovules 1 or few per locule; fruit a capsule.

Tradescantia occidentalis - Western Spiderwort

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Shrubs or perennial herbs; leaves simple, entire, opposite or apparently whorled; flowers usually bisexual, regular, in cymes or a flower-like, whitish, involucrate head; sepals 4, united; petals 4, separate, white, greenish-white, or purplish; stamens 4; ovary 1, inferior; style 1; locules 2; ovules 1 per locule; fruit a red, white, or bluish drupe.

Cornus stolonifera Michx. - Redosier Dogwood

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Fleshy, succulent herbs; leaves simple, entire, sessile; flowers hypogynous, yellow, pink, or purplish; sepals 4-5; petals 4-5; stamens twice as many as the sepals or petals; pistil (carpels) 4-5; fruit a group of follicles.

Sedum lanceolata Torrey - Stonecrop

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Evergreen trees or shrubs; leaves scale-like or awl-shaped; cones fleshy or leathery and berry-like cones; seed wingless, one or more in each cone.

Juniperus communis - Common Juniper

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Grass-like or rush-like herbs; leaves simple, alternate or basal, sheathing, usually 3 ranked, rarely reduced to sheath; ligule often lacking; flowers bisexual or unisexual, arranged in spikelets or spikes, each flower subtended by a chaffy bract; perianth bristly or scaly or absent; stamens 1-3, rarely 6; ovary 1, superior; style 1, usually branched above; fruit an achene, enclosed in a sac (perigynium) inCarex.

Carex aquatilis Wahl. - Water Sedge

Carex aurea - Golden Sedge

Carex filifolia Nutt. - Threadleaf Sedge

Carex geyeri - Elk Sedge

Carex lanuginosa - Woolly Sedge

Carex microptera - Little-Wing Sedge

Carex nebrascensis Dewey - Nebraska Sedge

Carex oreocharis Holm. - Sedge

Carex pachystachya - Thickspike Sedge

Carex pensylvanica - Pennsylvania Sedge

Carex stenophylla Wahl. - Sedge

Eleocharis palustris - Water Spike Rush

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Rush-like herbs; stems branched or unbranched, jointed, longitudinally striate, hollow between the joints; leaves consisting of a ring of teeth at each joint; reproduction by spores that are all alike and produced in a terminal cone made up of whorls of sporophylls.

Equisetum arvense L. - Horsetail

Equisetum hyemale L. - Scouring Rush, Horsetail

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs, shrubs, or trees; leaves mostly leathery, often evergreen, simple, entire or obscurely toothed; flowers hypogynous or epigynous; sepals 4 or 5; petals 4 or 5, usually united but sometimes only slightly so, the corolla often urn-shaped; stamens as many as the corolla lobes or twice as many, free from the corolla; anthers often opening by terminal pores; pistil 1; carpels 2-5, united; fruit a capsule or a berry.

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. - Bearberry, Manzanita

Pterospora andromedea Nutt. - Woodland Pinedrops

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Flowers in perianth-like involucres; 1 stalked pistil; stamens several to many in each involucre; juice usually milky.

Euphorbia brachycera Engelm. var. robusta Dorn - Robust Spurge

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Trees, shrubs, or mostly herbs; leaves alternate, usually compound, with prominent stipules; flowers irregular, more or less perigynous but the hypanthium short or shallow; sepals 5, united below to form a tube; petals 5, dissimilar in size and shape, the upper petal (standard or banner) the largest, the two lateral petals (wings) oblique, and the two lower petals (keel) united by their lower edges and enclosing that stamens and pistil; stamens usually 10, often diadelphous (9 united by their filaments and 1 separate), sometimes monadelphous (all united by their filaments), and sometimes all separate (distinct); anthers usually alike but sometimes 5 anthers larger that the other 5; pistil 1, of 1 carpel; fruit a legume, usually leathery but sometimes papery and inflated and sometimes fleshy.

Astragalus adsurgens Pall. var. robustior Hook. - Standing Milkvetch

Astragalus agrestis Dougl. ex. G. Don. - Field Milkvetch

Astragalus crassicarpus Nutt. - Groundlpum Milkvetch

Astragalus flesuosus (Hook.) Dougl. ex. G. Don. - Pliant Milkvetch

Astragalus shortianus Nutt. - Shorts Milkvetch

Astragulus eucosmus - Elegant Milkvetch

Astragulus parryi - Parry Milkvetch

Astragulus purshii - Pursh Milkvetch

Lupinus argenteus Pursh - Silvery Lupine

Melitolus alba - White Sweet Clover

Melitolus officinalis - Yellow Sweet Clover

Oxytropis lambertii Pursh - Lambert Loco

Oxytropis multiceps Nutt. - Flowery Loco

Oxytropis sericea Nutt. var. spicata (Hook.) Barneby - Silky Loco

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Delicate, smooth herbs; juice watery; leaves compound and dissected, fern-like; flowers yellow, hypogynous, irregular, produced in racemes among the leaves; sepals 2, small and scale-like; petals 4, in 2 pairs, the outer pair with spreading tips and the one or both of them spurred or saccate at the base, the inner pair smaller; stamens 6, in 2 sets of 3 each, placed opposite the larger petals; pistil 1, becoming a 1-celled, several-seeded, elongate capsule in fruit; seeds black and shiny.

Corydalis aurea Willd. var. aurea - Golden Corydalis

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves palmately lobed or pinnately compound; flowers small or large and showy, white or pink, to purple; sepals 5; petals 5, dropping early; stamens the same numbers as the sepals or petals, or twice as many; filaments somewhat united at the base; pistil 1, of 5 united carpels that separate elastically; pistil and immature fruit long-beaked.

Geranium caespitosum James - Pineywoods Geranium

Geranium fremontii - Fremont Geranium

Geranium richardsonii Fisch &Trautv. - Richardson Geranium

Geranium viscosissimum - Sticky Geranium

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Shrubs; leaves alternate, palmately veined, palmately lobed; flowers epigynous, with a hypanthium originating from the top of the ovary; sepals 5, often petaloid and conspicuous; petals 5, small and inconspicuous; stamens 5; fruit a berry with few seeds.

Ribes cereum Dougl. var. pediceilare - Wax Current

Ribes inerme - Spiny Currant

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Shrubs; leaves opposite, simple, without stipules; flowers white, on the ends of the branches, perigynous, the sepals, petals, and stamens inserted on the rim of a hypanthium; Sepals 5; petals 5; stamens 10 or sometimes more; pistil of 2-10 united carpels, each with several seeds; fruit a capsule.

Jamesia americana T. &G. - Cliff Jamesia

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Annual or perennial herbs; leaves alternate; flowers often coiled inflorescences, usually white or blue to purple, regular, hypogynous, with the united petals; sepals 5, united below; petals 5, united below to form a short tube; stamens 5, attached to the corolla tube alternate with its lobes; pistil 1; style terminal, 2-cleft; ovary 1-celled or nearly 2-celled; fruit a capsule, opening by 2 valves, seeds few to several.

Hydrophyllum fendleri (Gray) Heller - Fendler Waterleaf

Phacelia denticulata Osterh. - Phacelia

Phacelia hastata Dougl. ex Lehm. - Phacelia

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves 2-ranked; flowers perfect, regular, blue or purple; sepals 3, petaloid; petals 3; stamens 3; pistil 1, of 3 united carpels; style branches sometimes appearing like 3 additional petals; ovary inferior, 3-celled; fruit a loculicidal capsule.

Sisyrinchium angustifolium Mill. - Common Blue-eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium montanum Greene - Montane Blue-eyed Grass

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves simple, linear or filiform, basal or alternate, sheathing; flowers bisexual, regular, in a panicle, cyme, or head, rarely solitary; perianth of 6, mostly similar, scale-like, separate parts; stamens 3 or 6; pistil 1; ovary superior; styles 1 or 3; locules 1 or 3; fruit a capsule.

Juncus balticus Willd. var. montanus Engelm. - Baltic Rush

Juncus bufonius - Toad Rush

Juncus ensifolius - Sword-Leaf Rush

Juncus longistylis - Long-Styled Rush

Juncus tenuis - Slender Rush

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Aromatic herbs with a minty odor; stems square in cross section; leaves simple and opposite; flowers hypogynous, with united petals; corolla nearly regular to irregular, often 2-lipped; stamens 4, in two sets of 2 each, or only 2, attached to the corolla tube alternate with its lobes; pistil 1; ovary deeply 4-lobed, style 1, arising from between the lobes of the ovary, 2-forked at the summit; fruit a group of four 1-seeded nutlets.

Agastache urticifolia - Nettle-Leaved Giant Hyssop

Dracocephalum parviflorum Nutt. - American Dragonhead

Mentha arvensis - Common Mint

Monarda fistulosa L. var. methaefolia (Grah.) Fern. - Wildbergamot, Beebalm

Scutellaria brittonii Porter - Brittons Skullcap

Scutellaria galericulata L.var. brittonii Porter - Skullcap

Stachys palustris - Water Hedge Nettle

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs or sometimes shrubs; flowers mostly showy; perianth consisting of 3 sepals and 3 petals that are usually similar and all petaloid; sepals not green; stamens 6; pistil 1, of 3 united carpels; styles separate or united; ovary superior, 3-celled and with several to many ovules; fruit a capsule or sometimes a berry.

Allium cernuum Roth. - Nodding Onion

Allium textile Nels. &Macbr. - Prairie Onion

Calochortus gunnisonii Wats. - Gunnison Mariposa Lily

Leucocrinum montanum Nutt. ex Gray - Common Star Lily

Smilacina stellata (L.) Desf. - Starry False Solomon's Seal

Yucca glauca - Spanish Bayonet

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Annual or perennial herbs with barbed hairs; leaves simple, entire to pinnatifid, alternate; flowers bisexual, regular, in cymes or rarely solitary; calyx lobes mostly 5, borne on a short hypanthium; petals mostly 5, yellow to whitish, separate, sometimes also with an inner whorl of 3 or more (mostly 5) petal-like staminodia; stamens many; pistil 1; ovary inferior; style 1; locule 1; ovules many; fruit a capsule.

Mentzelia dispersa Wats. - Bushy Mentzelia

Mentzelia rusbyi Wooton - Desert Mentzelia

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves usually opposite, simple, mostly entire; flowers bisexual or rarely unisexual, regular, each flower or a cluster of flowers subtended by usually 5 separate or united bracts (involucre), the involucres in a cyme or panicle; calyx of 5 united petaloid sepals; corolla none; stamens mostly 3-5; pistil 1; ovary superior but often appearing superficially inferior by constriction of the calyx tube; style 1; fruit an achene, sometimes enclosed by the calyx.

Mirabilis hirsuta Pursh - Hairy Four-O-Clock

Mirabilis nyctaginea - Heart-Leaved Umbrellawort

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; flowers regular, epigynous, often with a conspicuous, tubular hypanthium extending above the ovary, flowers often large and showy, variously colored but often white or pink; sepals 4; petals 4; stamens 4 or 8, attached to the rim of the hypanthium or to the top of the ovary when the hypanthium is lacking; pistil 1; style single; stigma often 4-lobed; ovary inferior, usually 4-celled; fruit a capsule or sometimes nutlike and indehiscent.

Epilobium anagallidifolium - Dwarf Willow Herb

Epilobium angustifolium - Fireweed

Epilobium ciliatum Raf. - Cilliate Willow Herb

Epilobium watsonii Raf. - Purpleleaf Willowherb

Gaura coccinea Nutt. ex Pursh - Scarlet Gaura

Gayophytum diffusum T.&G.var. diffusum - Bigflower Groundsmoke

Oenothera caespitosa Nutt. - Tufted Evening Primrose

Oenothera coronopifolia T &G - Evening Primrose

Oenothera depressa Greene - Evening Primrose

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; flowers perfect, irregular, epigynous; sepals 3, similar and petaloid; petals 3, dissimilar, one of them projecting downward and of a different shape (the lip); stamens 1 or 2, attached near the end of the style; anther or anthers sessile; pistil of 3 united carpels; ovary inferior and 1-celled; parietal placentae; fruit a 1-celled capsule.

Corallorhiza maculata - Maculate Coral Root

Habenaria viridis - Green Bog Orchid

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs without green color, brownish or yellowish; parasitic on the roots of other plants; leaves scale-like; flowers hypogynous, irregular; sepals 5, united; petals 5, united; stamens 4, in two sets of 2 each, attached to the corolla tube alternate with its lobes; pistil 1; ovary 1-celled; parietal placentation; fruit a many-seeded capsule.

Orobanche fasciculata Nutt. - Purple Broomrape

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Resinous, evergreen trees or shrubs; leaves needle-like; cones woody; seeds produced in pairs at the base of the cone scales (sporophylls), not enclosed in an ovary or pod.

Picea engelmannii - Engelmann Spruce

Pinus flexilis James - Limber Pine

Pinus ponderosa Laws. &Laws. - Ponderosa Pine

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves in basal clusters, simple, entire, parallel-veined; flowering stems (scapes) naked and ending in a dense spike of small flowers; flowers hypogynous, regular; sepals 4, united; petals 4, spreading, scarious and whitish, united below into a short tube; stamens 2 or 4, attached to the corolla tube alternate with its lobes; pistil 1; ovary 1-4-celled; fruit usually circumscissile capsule (pyxis).

Plantago patagonica Jacq. var. spinulosa (Decne) Gray - Woolly Plantain

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves simple, alternate, sheathing, parallel-veined, 2 ranked, with a hairy or membranous ligule at junction of sheath and blade on inner side; flowers bisexual or unisexual, arranged in spikelets, each spikelet usually consisting of 2 empty lower bracts (glumes) subtending 1 or more florets, each floret composed of 2 bracts (a lemma which usually has a midnerve, and a palea which usually lacks a midnerve) which subtend the flower; perianth greatly reduced; stamens 1-6, usually 3; ovary 1, superior; styles 1-3, usually 2; fruit a caryopsis.

Agropyron caninum - Slender Wheatgrass

Agropyron cristatum - Crested Wheatgrass

Agropyron dasystachyum (Hook.) Scribn. - Thickspine Wheatgrass

Agropyron elongatum - Tall Wheatgrass

Agropyron smithii Rydb. - Western Wheatgrass

Agropyron spicatum - Bluebunch Wheatgrass

Alopercurus aequalis Sobel. - Water Foxtail

Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. ex Griffiths - Blue Grama

Bromus ciliatus - Ciliate Bromegrass

Bromus tectorum L. - Cheatgrass Brome

Catabrosa aquatica - Brookgrass

Cinna latifolia - Woodreed

Danthonia parryi Scribn. - California Danthonia

Festuca idahoensis Elmer - Idaho Fescue

Glyceria grandis - Big Mannagrass

Glyceria striata - Striate Mannagrass

Hordeum jubatum L. - Foxtail Barley

Koeleria macrantha (Ledeb.) Schult. - Prairie Junegrass

Leucopoa kingii - Western Grass

Muhlenbergia filiculmis Vasey - Slimstem Muly

Muhlenbergia filiformis - Pullup Muhly

Oryzopsis micrantha (Trin. &Rupr.) Thurb. - Littleseed Ricegrass

Phleum pratense L. - Common Timothy

Poa compressa L. - Canada Bluegrass

Poa cusickii Vasey var. cusickii - Cusick Bluegrass

Poa fendleriana (Steud) var. nervosa (Hook.) Vasey - Mutton Bluegrass

Poa juncifolia - Big Bluegrass

Poa nervosa - Nerved Bluegrass

Poa pratensis L. - Kentucky Bluegrass

Poa sandbergii Vasey - Sandberg Bluegrass

Poa scabrella Thurb. - Pine Bluegrass

Puccinellia nuttalliana - Nuttall Alkali Grass

Sitanion hystrix Nutt. - Bottlebrush Squirreltail

Stipa columbiana - Columbian Needlegrass

Stipa comata Trin &Rupr. var. comata - Needle and Thread

Stipa viridula - Green Needlegrass

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Low to moderately tall herbs, rarely shrubby; leaves alternate or opposite; sepals 5, united into a tube below; petals 5, united into a tube below; stamens 5, attached to the slender lobes; ovary 3 celled, with axillary placentation; fruit a 3-valved capsule.

Collomia linearis Nutt. - Narrowleaved Collomia

Microsteris gracilis (Hook.) Greene var. humilior (Hook.) Cronq. - Microsteris

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs, often with sour juice; leaves alternate and entire; stems often papery stipular sheaths at the joints (except inEriogonum which has no stipules); flowers small, solitary in the axils of leaves, in terminal, compact racemes, in umbels, in capitate clusters, or paniculate, perfect or sometimes unisexual; perianth of 5-6 parts, sometimes united, petaloid and in 1 series or sepaliod and in 2 series, often persistent and sometimes becoming greatly enlarged in fruit; stamens 4-12; pistil 1; ovary superior; styles 2 or 3; stigmas 2 or 3; fruit a lenticular or triangular achene.

Eriogonum alatum Torr. - Wing Wild Buckwheat

Eriogonum jamesii Benth. - James Wildbuckwheat

Eriogonum umbellatum (Torr.) var. majus Hook. - Sulfur Wild Buckwheat

Polygonum aviculare - Creeping Knotweed

Polygonum convolvulus - Twining Knotweed

Polygonum douglasii Greene var. microspermum Englein. - Douglas Knotweed

Rumex crispus - Crispy Dock

Rumex salicifolius - Willow-Leaved Dock

Rumex utahensis Rech - Dock

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves well developed, often lobed or dissected; reproduction by spores in minute spore case (sporangia) that are clustered in dots, lines or variously shaped clusters (sori) on the backs or margins of the leaves, or sometimes on specialized leaves.

Cystopteris fragilis (L.) Bernh. - Brittle Bladderfern

Woodsi oregana - Brittle Fern

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Succulent herbs; leaves alternate, opposite, or basal, simple and entire; flowers solitary or racemose, regular, perfect, small or showy; sepals often 2, sometimes more, persistent and often enlarged in fruit; petals usually 5, sometimes more, white to pink to rose; stamens often 5, sometimes more; pistil 1, of 2 or more united carpels; ovary usually superior, 1-celled, free-central placentation; fruit a capsule with numerous seeds.

Claytonia lanceolata Pursh var. flava (A. Nels.) Hiteho. - Lanceleaf Springbeauty

Lewisia pygmaea (Gray) Robins - Least Lewisia

Montia chamissoi (Ledeb. ex Spreng.) Greene - Chamissa Minerslettuce

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves simple, basal or sometimes cauline; flowers hypogynous, regular, with united petals; sepals 5, partly united; petals 5, united into a tube below; stamens 5, attached to the corolla opposite its lobes; pistil 1, with a single and stigma; ovary superior, 1-celled, free-central placentation; fruit a capsule.

Androsace filiformis - Filiform Rockjasmine

Androsace septentrionalis L. - Pygmyflower, Rock Jasmine

Dodecatheon pulchellum (Raf.) Merr. - Shootingstar

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; flowers hypogynous, the parts all separate from one another; perianth regular or irregular; sepals 3 or more, often petaloid when the petals are lacking; petals none or several; stamens numerous, spirally arranged; pistils (carpels) 3 or more, each with 1 or several ovules; fruit a group of achenes or follicles, or sometimes a berry.

Aconitum columianum - Columbian Monkshood

Actaea rubra - Red Baneberry

Anemone canadensis L. - Canada Anemone

Anemone multifida Poir - Cutleaf Anemone

Anoemone patens L. - Spreading Pasqueflower

Clematis ligusticifolia Nutt. - Westernwhite Clematis

Delphinium geyeri - Geyer Larkspur

Delphinium nuttallianum Pritz - Larkspur

Delphinium occidentale - Mountain Larkspur

Ranunculus abortivus - Premature Buttercup

Ranunculus acriformus - Sharp Buttercup

Ranunculus cymbalaria - Shore Buttercup

Ranunculus glaberrimus Hook. var. ellipticus Greene - Sagebrush Buttercup

Ranunculus gmelinii - Gmelin Buttercup

Ranunculus macounii - Macoun Buttercup

Ranunculus ranunculinus (Nutt.) Rydb. - Nuttail Buttercup

Ranunculus sceleratus - Hollow-Stem Buttercup

Thalictrum fendleri Engelm. - Fendler Meadowrue

Thalictrum occidentale - Western Meadow Rue

Thalictrum sparsiflorum - Scattered-Flower Meadow Rue

Thalictrum venulosum - Veiny Meadow Rue

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs, shrubs, or trees; leaves alternate, simple or compound, often with prominent stipules; flowers regular, perigynous, sometimes appearing to be epigynous; sepals, petals, and stamens inserted on the rim of a shallow or deep hypanthium that is free from the pistil or pistils or that encloses the pistil or pistils and is sometimes adnate to the pistil; sepals 5; petals usually 5, sometimes none; stamens usually numerous; pistil 1 and of 1 or several united carpels, or the pistils and carpels several to many and separate; fruit a group of achenes, a group of follicles, an aggregate of achenes (strawberry), an aggregate of druplets (raspberry), a single drupe (cherry), a single pome (apple), or an urn-shaped structure enclosing several achenes (rose hip).

Amelanchier alinfolia Nutt. - Saskatoon Serviceberry

Cercocarpus montanus Raf. - True Mountain Mohogany

Fragaria virginiana Miller - Virginia Strawberry

Geum macrophylum - Big-Leaf Avens

Physocarpus monogynus (Torr.) Coult. - Mountain Ninebark

Potentilla concinna Richards var. concinna - Elegant Cinquefoil

Potentilla fissa Nutt. - Bigflower Cinquefoil

Potentilla gracilis Dougl. ex Hook. var. nuttallii Lehm. - Showy Cinquefoil

Potentilla hippiana Lehm. - Horse Cinquefoil

Potentilla norvegica L. - Norwegian Cinquefoil

Potentilla pensylvanica L. - Pennsylvania Cinquefoil

Prunus virginiana L. var. melanocarpa (A. Nels.) Sarg. - Common Chokecherry

Purshia tridentata (Pursh) DC - Antelope Bitterbrush

Rosa sayi Schwein - Rose

Rosa woodsii Lindl. - Woods Rose

Rubus idaeus L. - Red Raspberry

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; stems square; leaves entire, simple, whorled; stems often with fine, retrorse prickles; flowers epigynous, regular, small, white; calyx with 4 small to minute lobes; corolla of united petals, 4 lobed, the lobes spreading and the tube short; stamens usually 4, attached to the tube of the corolla alternate with its lobes; pistil 1, of 2 carpels, each carpel rounded and sometimes with barbed bristles; fruit a pair of 1-seeded nutlets.

Galium boreale L. - Northern Bedstraw

Galium trifidum - Trifid Bedstraw

Galium triflorum - Three-Flower Bedstraw

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Tree or shrubs; leaves alternate, simple, stipulate; leaf margins serrate, denate, or sometimes lobed; inflorescence a catkin, flowers unisexual, dioecious, lacking perianth; seeds numerous and each with a tuft of cottony hairs.

Populus angustifolia - Narrowleaf Cottonwood

Populus tremuloides Michx. - Quaking Aspen

Salix bebiana - Bebb Willow

Salix exigua - Coyote Willow

Salix lasiandra - Whiplash Willow

Salix lemmonii - Lemmon Willow

Salix monticola - Mountain Willow

Salix planifolia - Plane-Leaved Willow

Salix scouleriana - Scouler Willow

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Partially parasitic, perennial herbs; pale green color, with root connections to other plants; stems arising from horizontal rhizomes; leaves alternate, entire, glaucous; flowers small and greenish white; inflorescences umbel-like cymes; sepals 5; petals none; stamens 5, opposite the sepals and attached to a disk at the summit of the ovary; pistil 1; ovary inferior; fruit a purple, 1-seeded, drupe like berry crowned by the persistent calyx.

Comandra umbellata (L.) Nutt. var. pallida (A. DC) Jones - Common Bastard Toadflax

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves alternate or basal without stipules; leaf blades often but not always with palmate venation; flowers perigynous; sepals, petals, and the stamens inserted on the rim of a hypanthium; sepals usually 5; petals usually 5, stamens usually 5 or 10; carpels 2, more or less united in a single pistil that is 2-horned at the apex; ovary either 1-celled or 2-celled; fruit a capsule.

Heuchera bracteata (Torr.) Ser. - Alumroot

Heuchera parvifolia Nutt. ex T.&G. - Littleleaf Alumroot

Lithophragma glabrum Nutt. var. ramulosum (Suksd.) Boivin - Woodland Star

Saxifraga rhomboidea Greene - Diamondleaf Saxifrage

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs; leaves alternate or opposite; stems nearly always rounded in cross section; flowers hypogynous; petals united; corolla irregular, often 2-lipped; stamens 4, in two sets of 2 each, often with a fifth sterile filament, all attached to the corolla tube alternate with its lobes; pistil 1; ovary not lobed; style single, not bifid at the apex; fruit a 2-celled capsule.

Besseya wyomingensis (A. Nels.) Rydb. - Wyoming Kittentails

Castilleja flava - Yellow Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja linariaefolia Benth. - Indian Paintbrush

Collinsia parviflora Lindl. - Blue-eyed Mary

Linaria dalmatica - Dalmation Toadflax

Orthocarpus luteus Nutt. - Yellow Owlclover

Pedicularis procera - Tall Lousewort

Penstemon glaber Pursh var. alpinus (Torr.) Gray - Alpine Penstemon

Penstemon secundiflorus Benth. - Sidebells Penstemon

Penstemon virens Penn. ex Rydb. - Green Penstemon

Scrophularia lanceolata Pursh - Figwort

Verbascum thapsus L. - Flannel Mullein

Veronica americana Schwein ex Benth. - American Speedwell

Veronica peregrina - Wandering Speedwell

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Low, mosslike herbs; stems branching and unjointed, covered with small, awl-shaped, spirally arranged leaves; reproduction by spores of two sizes, produced on sporophylls that form terminal cones; found mainly in rocky, hilly places.

Selaginella densa - Rock Spike Moss

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Annual herbs in disturbed areas; leaves mostly alternate, simple, or rarely compound; flowers bisexual, regular or slightly irregular, solitary; calyx 5 lobed; corolla blue, violet, white, or yellow; stamens 5, attached to the corolla and alternate with the lobes; pistil 1, ovary superior; style 1; locules 2; ovules many; fruit a berry.

Solanum triflorum Nutt. - Cutleaf Nightshade

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Monoecious aquatic herbs; leaves simple, linear, alternate; staminate flowers in globose heads above globose heads of pistillate flowers; perianth reduced to usually 3-6 membranous scales; stamens 3 or more; ovary superior; styles 1 or 2; fruit a nutlet or achene.

Sparganium emersum - Emersed Bur-Reed

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Pubescent herbs; leaves simple, alternate or opposite, petioled; flowers unisexual or imperfectly bisexual, mostly regular, in a cyme, panicle, or spike, the plants monoecious or dioecious; perianth greenish or brownish, of 4 separate or united parts, sometimes 2 smaller than the other 2; stamens mostly 4; pistil 1; ovary superior; style 1; fruit an achene.

Parietaria pensylvanica Muhl. ex Willd. - Pennsylvania Pellitory

Urtica dioica L. - Stinging Nettle

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Herbs with malodorous roots; leaves opposite; flowers small and often numerous, white, epigynous, regular or somewhat irregular, the corolla of united petals; sepals 5; petals 5, united into a tube; stamens 1-3, attached to the tube of the corolla; pistil 1; ovary inferior; fruit 1-celled and 1-seeded, indehiscent, with a late-developing calyx of several feathery bristles (pappus) at the summit.

Valeriana edulis - Edible Valerian

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Annual to perennial herbs; leaves simple or compound, usually opposite; flowers mostly bisexual, irregular or rarely regular, usually in head-like or elongate bracteate spikes; calyx usually 2-5 lobed; corolla usually unequally 4 or 5 lobed; stamens usually 4; pistil 1; ovary superior, often 2 or 4 lobed; style 1; locules 2 or 4; ovules usually 1 per locule; fruit 2 or 4 nutlets.

Verbena bracteata - Creeping Verbena

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.

Low herbs; leaves alternate or basal, stipulate, blades narrowly lanceolate to oblong or cordate; flowers hypogynous or somewhat perigynous, the corolla irregular, the lower petal saccate or spurred; sepals 5; petals 5; stamens 5, the anthers meeting but not united over the pistil; ovary 1 celled, with 3 parietal placentae; fruit a 3-valved capsule.

Viola canadensis L. - Canada White Violet

Viola nephrophylla - Stemless Blue Violet

Go back to plant familes Quick Reference.