Plant Identification & Propagation
Below are some useful, regionally-specific resources for North Alabama (and the Southeast) that will aid you on your journey to ID and propagate native plants. If you are collecting wild seeds, please always remember our collection ethics! In general it’s a good idea to have a mix of books on botanical theory, gardening/propagation, dichotomous keys and field guides. Some very good keys, listing up to 16,000 species, are now freely and publicly available online (see Weakley’s Flora), and I’m sure there will be more to come. Weakley’s FlorQuest app for the South Central region is indispensable if you want to ID our most species-rich genera to the actual species.
Additionally, citizen scientists and AI image recognition software will help you learn our native and invasive plants on iNaturalist and similar apps.
If you have further suggestions for resources relevant to North Alabama, please send them to us!
Plant Propagation
In addition to Jan Midgley’s self-published book on plant propagation (which can be acquired by sending her a check for $27.00 to the address on the cover – picture above), the USDA has published extensive material on the propagation of woody species in the Woody Seed Plant Manual. You can read and download the USDA manuals here.
Workshops
Are you an expert (amateur or professional) in a subject matter that can help WONA achieve its strategic goals? Are you a natural educator who loves to share your knowledge with others? If so, we’d love to hear from you. We’d like to hold workshops throughout the year with various experts to make us all more competent plant identifiers, propagators, and invasive species eradicators. Please reach out, and help us get better at what we love to do!
Wild Ones North Alabama Handouts
