A Field Guide to Wetland Plants: Specimen Collections

Wetlands are a legally protected natural resource in Massachusetts, defined largely by the array of plant species that inhabit them. The success of wetland protection efforts relies on accurately identifying wetlands. Procedures for the identification of these areas necessitate the correct recognition of plant species. Unfortunately, current field guides for wetland plant identification are either too technical for most local conservationists or too elementary for accurate species identifications. I intend to continue my development of a comprehensive field guide for identifying all of the trees and shrubs found in wetlands of Massachusetts. I propose here to increase the effectiveness of this manual this growing season by wild-collecting many specimens to be used for illustration purposes and to allow for better written descriptions. Such preserved plant specimens will serve as a rich database to draw from for detailed descriptions of each species, their flowering period, habitat, and be essential for their proper illustration