Vascular Plant Families - Trees & Shrubs - Gymnosperms - Wildflowers - Graminoids
Pteridophytes - Bryophytes - Lichens

Cultivated Plants - Rare Plants - Weeds & Invasive Species - Poisonous Plants - Ethnobotany - First Nations

North America - Canada - U.S.A. - Other Countries

Taxonomic Databases - Miscellany - Glossaries & Dictionaries

Choose one of the links above for a list of plant-related websites about that category. Selected websites include only non-commercial, free-access sites that do not require passwords. The links provided have all been checked as of April 18, 2008, but visitors should note that most large websites have a regular downtime for editing and uploading more information. Often, this downtime occurs on the weekends, especially Sunday night (students take note!). If you find a link that doesn't work, try that site again at a different time or on a different day; if it still does not work, please report the problematic link to the NOPD.

Wildflowers

This list includes general collections of images (including all plant families) and those wildflower websites that will be of most use to students in northern Ontario. Several of these links are from different provinces or states; these are listed here because they include many species that also occur in northern Ontario. Links to many other useful images are included under the specific Province and State to which they apply, or under the plant type.

A Digital Flora of Newfoundland & Labrador
http://www.digitalnaturalhistory.com/flora.htm
Newfoundland's flora includes many arctic-alpine species found also in the northernmost parts of Ontario. Since most websites on Ontario wildflowers focus on the mixedwood or deciduous forest flora, this site is particularly useful for botanists and First Nations people in the northern parts of Ontario. This website was developed by John Maunder, Curator Emeritus of Natural History, Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Andy's Northern Ontario Wildflowers
http://www.ontariowildflower.com/index.htm
The personal website, and a labour of love, by northern Ontario geologist Andy Fyon. One of the best resources on northeastern Ontario. This extensive website includes information of the wildflower species of various habitats, as well as information on ferns, mosses & lichens, and fungi. Check back often as this site is continuously growing.

Aster Graphics
http://www.jcsemple.uwaterloo.ca/index.ht ml
This homepage of John C. Semple, Waterloo University, includes links to the asters, goldenrods, and goldenasters of North America. In these websites, Dr. Semple clearly details the new generic divisions of the former Aster and Solidago genera, which are followed in the 3 Asteraceae volumes of Flora of North America. Also contains very useful diagrams on the morphology of asters. Ontario botanists will want to purchase his two indispensable references, Cultivated and native asters of Ontario (Semple, Heard, and Brouillet 2002) and The Goldenrods of Ontario, 3rd ed. (Semple, Ringius, and Zhang 1999) from the University of Waterloo Biology Series.

British Wildflowers
http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/
This outstanding website, compiled by John Somerville, features excellent digital images from many photographers of over 1600 species found in Britain and Ireland. Images are arranged according to common name, but the scientific name appears with the images. This website also includes links to British Trees and Shrubs, Grasses, Sedges, Rushes, and Ferns, and Brambles (Rubus species).

Delaware Wildflowers
http://www.delawarewildflowers.org/index.html
A website of stunning wildflower photographs by David G. Smith; well organized, easy to navigate.

Flora of the Northeastern United States
http://web.syr.edu/~mhough/index.html
A website by Michael Hough, Syracuse University, featuring his terrific photographs of the native flora of New York and the surrounding states. Access the webpages from this alphabetical species list. Note that each webpage contains several images, which can be viewed by clicking the Forward or Back links.

Flowering Plant Gateway
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/newgate/cronang.htm
A very useful collection of vascular plant images organized by family, compiled by Hugh Wilson, of the Bioinformatics Group, Texas A&M University. Access the images from this alphabetical Family List, or select one of the 4 classification systems.

Galleria Carnivora
http://www.sarracenia.com/galleria/galleria.html
For unsurpassed information on everything carnivorous, see this world-renowned website of superb images, by Barry Rice, on native and non-native carnivorous plants. A must-see for botanists and photographers alike. Click on each of the 3 Floor Exhibits (on the homepage) to visit the various groups or access by genus. Students young and old will appreciate his "cheap sleazy" animations of how each trap works. Finally, if you have questions, see The Carnivorous Plant FAQ.

Gallery of Connecticut Wildflowers
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/galleryindex.html
A truly delightful website on eastern North American wildflowers from the Connecticut Botanical Society, showcasing the photography of Eleanor Saulys and Janet Novak (and others).

Herbier photo 66 - Pyrénées Orientales
http://jos.argaud.free.fr/cadres.php
A beautiful website by Josette Argaud that features images of wildflower from the western Pyrenees in France. Click on Recherches to access the species webpages, each of which includes a brief description, in French, with field and/or scanned images of each species.

Illinois Wildflowers
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/
A series of excellent websites by John Hilty, including Prairie Wildflowers, Savanna and Thicket Wildflowers, Wetland Wildflowers, Woodland Wildflowers, Weedy Wildflowers, and Grasses, Sedges, and Non-Flowering Plants. Each webpage includes excellent images and very good descriptive information. A good site for botany students to bookmark.

Images of Apiaceae
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/Apiaceae/APIACEAE.HTM
An interesting website by Kristin Linoski, Texas A&M Univ., of images of plants, leaves, inflorescences, and schizocarps of species in the carrot family (Apiaceae) from Texas; including some, but not all of the species occurring in northern Ontario.

Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses
http://www.kswildflower.org/
A beautiful website on Kansas flowering plants that provides access to images and species descriptions by scientific name, colour, or common name.

Missouriplants.com
http://www.missouriplants.com/index3.html
Although there are many excellent choices, Missouriplants.com is, in my opinion, the best website for wildflower images from the U.S. It includes spectacular digital images by Dan Tenaglia, but of more importance, each webpage includes images of features that are key to the correct identification of these wildflower and pteridophyte species. All serious botany students should bookmark this website and refer to it for regular updates.

Native Orchids of Ontario
http://www.osrbg.ca/orchid_native.html
A comprehensive website, compiled by the Orchid Society of the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG), Hamilton, ON. Images, from the Donald Gunn Image Collection at RBG, are presented at the bottom of each webpage, after the descriptions.

Ontario Wildflowers
http://ontariowildflowers.com/
One of a series of great websites by Walter Muma, this one on the wildflowers of Ontario. Access the species from this list of Wildflowers by Scientific Name or choose another method from the several offered. Orchid enthusiasts will want to check out his webpages on Ontario orchids. A companion to his other websites on Ontario trees and shrubs, graminoids, pteridophytes, and mosses, linked from his website. The strength of Walter's websites are the many excellent digital images he includes in each species page, all of which help in identification; scroll past the descriptions to view the images.

PhotoGallery Wildlife Pictures - Plants
http://www.hlasek.com/ccflora1an.html
This gallery of wildflower photographs by Josef Hlasek offers superb images, usually many of each species. The galleries are arranged according to family name and plant type, which makes it easy to find species. Click on this link to see his other fine galleries.

Saskatchewan Native Plants - Wildflowers
http://www.em.ca/garden/native/nat_photos.html
A very useful addition to the expanding list of websites on Canadian wildflowers. This wonderful website, from Maureen and Glen of Regina, SK, includes webpages on prairie, forest, and wetland species, nearly all of which also occur in northern Ontario.

Southern Appalachian Wildflowers
http://www.pbase.com/waterfallrich/southern_appalachian_wildflowers
A great collection of absolutely stunning wildflower images by Rich Stevenson. Once you see his Oconee bells and yellow fringed orchid pictures, you'll want to see them all!

Trillium and the Trillium Family
http://www.goldsword.com/sfarmer/Trillium/
An excellent website by Susan Farmer on the genus Trillium, which features research and images on this genus and the genus Paris, both better placed in the Trilliaceae than in the Melanthiaceae.

Tropicos
http://mobot.mobot.org/Pick/Search/most.html
A newly updated searchable database of flowering plant and bryophyte nomenclature, specimens, and images from the Missouri Botanical Garden. An indispensable website for botany students.

Wildflowers of Commanster, Belgium
http://popgen.unimaas.nl/~jlindsey/commanster/Plants/Flowers/flowers.html
A website with excellent habit and closeup images of Belgian wildflowers (mainly eudicots), part of the Ecology of Commanster website by Jim Lindsey. Images of the plants, leaves, flowers, and fruits are provided. Plants are organized according to scientific name, but common names are provided in English, French, Dutch, and German.

Wildflowers of the British Isles
http://www.ukwildflowers.com/index.htm
Another excellent collection of images from the British Isles, this one compiled by Dr. P.J. Llewellyn, and a companion to his Wildflowers of Australia and Tasmania and Wildflowers of Europe websites. Access the A-Z Thumbnail Index for a shortcut to the species pages, which provide interesting descriptive information. Abbreviations at the top of each page note the species' relative abundance (very common to extremely rare) and whether it is introduced or native. These abbreviations are explained on the Symbols page.

Wisconsin Wetland Plants, Goldenrods, and Asters
Actually, three distinct websites by Gary Fewless, Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. These excellent websites, constructed in the same easy-to-use format of his other websites (see Wisconsin websites), include descriptions, digital camera and scanned images of the plants, and diagnostic features.
Asters of Wisconsin
http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/Vascular_plants/Aster/aster_intro01.htm
Goldenrods of Wisconsin
http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/Vascular_plants/Solidago/solidago01.htm
Wetland Plants of Wisconsin
http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/wetland_plants/wetland_plants01.htm.