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Taxonomic Key for Indian Mound Park, Cedarville, OH
Spring Wildflowers -- April-May
by Melanie Lehman, Michael McCubbin, and Kelly Montague

                Plants Included:                    Scientific Name:

                Black Cherry                        Prunus serotina
                Black Locust                        Robinia pseudoacacia
                Bladdernut, American           Staphylea trifolia
                Bloodroot                             Sanguinaria canadensis
                Buttercup, Swamp                Ranunculus septentrionalis
                Dead-Nettle, Purple              Lamium purpureum
                Dogwood, Flowering             Cornus Florida
                Dutchman's Breeches           Dicentra cucularia
                Geranium, Wild                     Geranium maculatum
                Hepatica, Sharp-lobed           Hepatica acutiloba
                Honeysuckles, Shrub             Lonicera sp.
                Jack-in-the-pulpit                  Arisaema atrorubens
                Mayapple                             Podophyllum peltatum
                Mustard, Garlic                     Alliaria petiolata
                Phlox, Wild Blue                   Phlox divaricata
                Ragwort, Round-leaved         Senecio obovatus
                Redbud                                 Cercis canadensis
                Solomon's Seal, Great            Polygonatum canaliculatum
               Solomon's Seal, False              Smilacina racemosa
                Spring Beauty                        Claytonia virginica
                Skunk Cabbage                      Symplocarpus foetidus
                Toothwort, Cut-leaved            Dentaria laciniata
                Trillium, Large-flowered         Tillium grandiflorum
                Twinleaf                                Jeffersonia diphylla
                Violet, Common Blue             Viola papillionacea

I.     Woody Plants - Shrubs or Trees

        A.     Shrubs - woody plants without a distinct trunk; instead, multiple woody stems

                1.     Flower petals surround a center (radial): American Bladdernut

                2.     Flower parts fused into slender tubes with lips: Shrub Honeysuckles and
                                                                                                      Closeup of Flowers

         B.   Trees - woody plants with distinct trunk supporting branches

                 1.     Hanging clusters of small white flowers

                         a.     Flower petals small, separate; arranged symmetrically around a center
                                 point, each flower with 4 petals:  Wild Black Cherry

                         b.    Flower petals fused into parts of different sizes; bean-like flowers:
                                                                                                                 Black Locust

                 2.     Flowers not in hanging clusters

                        a.    Flowers with four large petals (bracts):  Flowering Dogwood

                        b.    Petals rose-purple:   Redbud (Tree)   and Redbud (Flowers)

II.     Herbaceous Plants (Wildflowers)

         A.    Flowers white or light-pink

                 1.    Small  Flowers -- Less Than 1 Inch in Diameter

                       a.     Flowers with distinct petals, each of similar size:

                               1.     Six tiny petals;  tiny flowers born on stems extending above leaves:

                                       a.    Flowers in branched clusters at the tips of stems that
                                                   resemble fern fronds:   False Solomon's Seal

                                        b.   Flowers attached individually to unbranched stems:  Miterwort

                               2.    Five petals -- petals with pink stripes;  plants short and delicate,
                                                   with slender leaves: Spring Beauty

                               3.    Four petals

                                     1.     Leaves thinly divided with jagged margins:
                                                                                                     Cut-leaved Toothwort

                                     2.     Leaves triangular or heart-shaped; toothed margins:
                                                                                                     Garlic Mustard

                        b.    Flowers without distinct, regular  petals; individually hanging in a row
                               from stems to resemble mineature pantaloons; leaves divided into
                               many fine lobes:  Dutchman's Breeches

                 2.    Large Flowers -- At Least 1 Inch in Diameter

                        a.     Three petals, each separate, equal in size:Large-flowered Trillium

                        b.     Six or more petals

                                1.     Flowers grow on separate stems from the leaves:

                                        a.    Leaf and flowering stems many, hairy: Sharp-lobed Hepatica

                                        b.    Leaf and flowering stems few, not hairy:

                                                1.    Rounded, lobed leaf clasps around flower or flower stem;
                                                                                      Bloodroot, and more Bloodroot

                                                2.    As in "1." except leaf is divided into "twin" halves at the
                                                        point of attachment to the stem:      Twinleaf

                                2.    Flowers attached to stems that bear two deeply lobed,
                                       umbrella-like leaves; leaves hide the flowers:  May-Apple

         B.    Flowers not white

                1.    Flowers Yellow-Green -- dangling in pairs beneath alternating leaves arranged
                                                              along arching stems with the appearance of a fern:
                                                                                                         Solomon's Seal

                2.    Flowers Bright Yellow

                        a.     Five flower parts:  Kidney-Leafed Crowfoot

                        b.     More than five petals:    Round-leaved Ragwort

                3.    Flowers not Yellow

                        a.     Flowers regular (all petals similar in size, arranged around a center)

                                1.     Leaves in pairs (opposite each other on stem) and leaf margins
                                        not toothed or lobed:    Wild Blue Phlox

                                2.     Leaves deeply lobed:   Wild Geranium

                        b.     Flowers irregular (flowers not as in "a.")

                                1.     Flowers contained within a hood-like enclosure

                                        a.     Three-part basal leaves:   Jack-in-the-Pulpit

                                        b.     Leaves broad and large, touching the soil: Skunk Cabbage

                                2.    Flowers not contained within a hood-like enclosure

                                        a.     Basal leaves only:   Common Blue Violet

                                        b.     Flower embedded in cluster of purple leaves on stem tips:
                                                                                                      Purple-Dead Nettle

                                            

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