Many types of flowers grow in Pennsylvania, both the wild and cultivated variety. They might be annuals or perennials or they might be flowers that grow on shrubs or vines. If you've come across one you can't identify, there are several things you can do to find out what it is.

Identify Flowers by Picture

One way to identify flowers is to get a field guide, or find a website with pictures of flowers. Compare the pictures to the flower you are trying to identify. Look for similarities to narrow it down till you find the right one. Visit a local bookstore for a field guide that covers flowers in Pennsylvania and other northeastern and north-central or Mid-Atlantic states. The series of Peterson Field Guides has one such title, "A Field Guide to Wildflowers: Northeastern and North-Central North America." For garden flowers, look for "Pennsylvania Gardener's Guide" by Liz Ball.

Identify Flowers by Family

Another way to identify Pennsylvania flowers is by the family classification that scientists place the flower in. This involves looking at a set of characteristics that are common to all plants in a certain family. Look at the shape and size of each feature of the plant. Observe if there is one tall stem or smaller stems branch out from it, if the leaves are each separate or in groups of leaflets, the shape of the leaves, whether they are smooth, if they have a texture of some kind and what the flowers are shaped like. See if the roots have tubers or bulbs. As an example, flowers in the lily family have flowers that have parts in groups of threes, six stamens, and sepals that are identical to the petals. The leaves have parallel veins, and the plants produce bulbs.

Use an Online Tool

A final way to identify a flower that grows in Pennsylvania is to use an online tool such as MyWildflowers.com. This is a web form that allows you to input the characteristics, much like the family classification method. It asks for details about the flower's shape and color, when it blooms, the shape of the leaf, the size and whether there are individual flowers or clusters. The tool does the thinking for you and produces a list of possible answers, complete with photos and more information about each one. Or consult a nursery website such as NatureHills.com for garden flowers. Most of Pennsylvania is in hardiness zone five.

Source:

How to Identify Plants

Learning to Identify Plants by Families

Resource:

Wildflower Identification

MyWildflowers

Nature Hills