ABOUT THIS SITE
Overview
The Plant Photo Archives is a resource that at present, contains photographs of 3606 species of plants. Plants are organisms that are vital to us—providing us with everything from food to medicine to oxygen that we can breathe. They are also incredibly diverse and important to other organisms. Some 300 thousand plant species are known, many of them at risk of extinction; this website attempts to document as many species as possible.
Scope
This site is limited to vascular plants (Tracheophyta), although with an emphasis on temperate tree species. Despite my efforts, not all vascular plants are represented equally. Taxonomically among vascular plants, the most represented are the pine family (Pinaceae), the rose family (Rosaceae), and the cactus family (Cactaceae). Under-represented plants include the orchid family (Orchidaceae) and parasitic plant taxa such as the broomrape family (Orobanchaceae) and Santalales. Also, this collection is biased towards temperate species in the Northern Hemisphere.
Projects
In addition to photographing all plant species, I am working on three projects. These projects specialize in specific groups of plants—trees of North America, trees of Japan, and pteridophytes (ferns and lycopods), and I am working to write descriptions for all plants in these projects.
Photographs
Most photos are mine, except for a few banners on the top. These are either from Wix, or from other sites, in which case the source has been given. The photographs on this site have been taken with several cameras, including a Canon PowerShot SX210 IS, Fujifilm FinePix XP20, and several iPhones.
My photos are copyrighted, except for a few images that are published in Flickr, which have their own license. For a few photos (e.g. Morus boninensis), permission has been given to display the photos elsewhere.
Disclaimer
The “Uses” section contains uses for plants, of which some may be described as “edible” and/or “medicinal”; however many others are poisonous. Information on this site is meant for reference only. I try to be as accurate as possible, but I cannot guarantee certainty with these description pages, nor can take responsibility for any harm done using information from them.
How to Use This Site
Species
Each species has its own page, with its URL. The URL is https://plantphotoarchives.com/species/ plus the scientific name of the species, replacing the space with a hyphen. At the top of the page is the scientific name for the species, and the author abbreviation. The author abbreviation is to distinguish from any homonyms. To determine which names are synonyms and which are accepted, I use a combination of Plants of the World Online, Tropicos, and various other taxonomic authorities. Currently only one common name is provided.
Description
This section describes the plant in detail. This including morphology, distinguishing features between similar species, and any subspecies, varieties, cultivars, and/or hybrids belonging to the species. I've compiled information from many sources, but mostly floras online such as the Flora of China and the Flora of North America. These floras have extremely detailed, but often difficult to understand, terminology. I've taken the liberty of slightly simplifying the terminology, while sacrificing some precision.
Uses
This section is for any use of the plant. This may be for food, medicine, fuel, or for ornamental purposes. Cultivation data, like sun or water preferences, as well as the USDA hardiness zones are also included, if applicable.
Distribution
This section describes the distribution of the plant—its native range, and anywhere the plant may be naturalized.
Status
This section is for the plant’s status per the IUCN Red List, if it has been assessed globally. If the plant is listed in any of the CITES appendices, that will be included.