How to Classify Flowers

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By Henri Bauholz
eHow Contributing Writer

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Flowers classification is a scientific endeavor that requires close examination of the flower specimen and the ability to identify all the different flower parts. This task is usually first accomplished with a botany manual in hand, but once you run through the various keys and positively identify the particular flower, you should be able to recognize the flower on sight from that point on.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Step 1

Learn the first major division in plant classification, the division between monocots and dicots. Monocots, which include such diverse plants as orchids, lilies, grasses and palms, always have leaves that are parallel-veined, while dicots have leaves that are reticulated (veins that meet and originate from one point).
Step 2

Study the monocots. Monocot flowers have flower parts that come in threes or sixes. The flower parts that get counted are the stamens, sepals, petals and pistil tips.
Step 3

Learn your way around the large and diverse group of flowers that are called dicots by botanists. A good key or field manual is important to have for this task. The biggest flower group in the dicot class are the composites. This family includes all types of sunflowers, daisies and dandelions--all plants which have flowers that form a large composite head.

Tips & Warnings

Learn to make mental (or written) notes about each flower that include number of petals, color, width, flower arrangement and time of year in which the bloom appears. There are also some plant characteristics that are useful in identifying the exact species of plant. These include plant height, presence of leaf petiole, leaf arrangement, leaf edges and type of stem.
Learn the various family of plants and what makes a particular plant family unique. For example, the mint family and the verbena family have square stems. This unique characteristic separates them from all the rest of flowering plants.
Don't pick rare flowers.
Don't pick flowers from a botanical reserve or similar places like a national park, where this activity is not allowed.