I am a self-studied botany hobbyist living in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. I use iNaturalist to learn about plants and to help others to do the same. Please feel free to interact with me in any way that aligns with one of those two goals.

MY OBSERVATIONS

I regularly observe the wild plants present in my suburban yard, with a focus on morphology and phenology. I try to give some attention to fauna, funga, and other life too, but plants are my primary interest.

For my non-macro photos, I use my smartphone -- currently a Google Pixel 7 Pro. For my macro photos, I currently use an OM System Tough TG-7 -- often with a ring light or flash diffuser. Prior to 2024, I used set of four Bausch & Lomb Hastings triplet hand lenses (4x, 10x, 14x, and 20x) that I held up to the phone camera and photographed through.

My Observations Needing Your ID: Plants | Animals | Fungi | Chromists | Protozoans

MY IDENTIFICATIONS

I aim to add an identification to all of Nebraska's plant observations. I also add courser identifications to Nebraska's non-plant observations to help them reach the attention of those who can identify them more finely.

My Identify Queries: Unknown Taxon | Kingdom and Above | Familiar Taxa | Reviewed but No ID (Plants)

PLANT IDENTIFICATION

Learning to identify plants is not as hard as at might seem. All you need to get started are a flora that covers your location and a plant glossary. Here are what I use:

• Flora of North America North of Mexico (1993+) by Flora of North America Editorial Committee
• The Flora of Nebraska (2nd edition, 2011) by Robert Kaul, David Sutherland, and Steven Rolfsmeier
• The Kew Plant Glossary (2nd edition, 2020) by Henk Beentje

MISCELLANEOUS

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