Handbook Use and
Introduction to the Search Engine

Handbook Use

Colour is the first thing we notice about a flower. This Field Guide has been arranged in many categories, including colour -- pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue purple (and violet), white (and cream), and brown. Occasionally a flower will have more than one colour. If this is the case for the plant you are trying to identify, refer to the list of plants with more than one colour, as on this web site a plant is included only once.

Colour photographs of each plant are presented with simple, yet fairly detailed, descriptions which contain as few botanical terms as possible. However, a Glossary is provided for the scientific terms used.

It is not uncommon for a flower to have several common names. The main common names used in this Field Guide are from a standard reference.¹

Botanists use a universal language, Latin, to classify plants. The plants are divided into families, and within each family there may be one or several groups or genera and one or several species within each genus, thus giving each plant basically two names (e.g. Family = Asteracease = Daisy Family; Genus and species = Aster conspicuous = Showy Aster). In this guide, if a family name, genus, or species has been changed, the old names are given in brackets.

The detailed description is provided for each flower for those wishing additional information. Included are illustrations of parts of the plants such as

• flowers (arrangement of the flowers on the plant)
• each flower (description of a single flower)
• leaves (description)
• stems (description),

• colour
• height
• time of flowering
• preferred habitat.

¹Taylor, R.L. & MacBryde, B. (1977). Vascular plants of British Columbia: a description resource inventory. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press.

Search Steps

Step 2: Within Category Selection:
At the second step, the original category menu reappears with a set of choose-bars for chosen categories. Continuing with the example, select pink for Flower Colour, May for Blooming Period and spatula for Leaf Shape. Once again, press SELECT. The search turns up 6 of 336 items. One is given a small picture with the names of each of these 6 plants. To look at a larger picture or a detailed description of any of these plants, click on the picture of it. If you have made an error, click the BACK button on your browser and try again.

Search Updating

One is free to go back at any time and adjust both the check boxes and choose-bars in the menu. For instance, one can simultaneously widen and narrow the previous search to include white asters in any season as a two step process. First, we uncheck (toggle off) Blooming Period, check off Family (English) for the first time, and SELECT. The choose-bars reappear and one can change Flower Colour to White and choose Aster for Family (English). Press SELECT once again. This returns two items: Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) and Woolly Pussytoes (Antennaria lanata).

Choosing one's categories greatly helped the search. Had one begun the search merely as Flower Colour=white more than one hundred items (126) would have be selected. In this search tool, if selections number more than 100, nothing will be displayed.

Page Viewing

Once into the "book", the page turning tool allows one to read and browse all the specimens on file as presented in the printed text. In our example, Woolly Pussytoes turned up an image from page 255 of the book; it was specimen 2 of 2 of those selected. However, in the Browser, Woolly Pussytoes (page 255 of the printed text) would appear as image 232 of 335. In the Browser one can turn to previous or following pages in the volume by clicking the left and right arrow buttons. Buttons can also be used to zoom in/out (enlarge or minimize) on the current display or rewind (fast-forward) to the start or end of the book.

Table of Contents