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General Information- Flora
Protists, Fungi, Vascular and Non-Vascualar Plants

Flowering Dogwood
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Purpose
    Right off the bat I want to acknowledge that I am no expert on plants and flora.  The purpose of this section is mostly to showcase some of the species that may be encountered in New York State.  Information is provided on each species, and is accurate to the best of my knowledge.  If there are any mistakes I hope you will let me know.

Species
    There are literally hundreds of Protists, hundreds of Fungi, and thousands of Vascular and Non-Vascular Plants known from New York State.  These include mushrooms, ferns, slime molds, trees, flowers, grasses, horsetails, club mosses, algae, lichens, and more.  Many are small or nondescript, but some such as cattails and a variety of tree species are very common and form the basis for their various ecosystems.  In fact, most ecosystems are defined by the plant life they hold.  Without plants and the like no animal species would exist in the state.  Some animals are dependant on one or two species of plants and form intense symbiotic relationships.
    The flora of the state is important in that it regulates weather patterns, slows erosion, removes toxins from the ecosystem, and has great economic value as timber and cropland.  Many of the trees in the area lose their leaves in winter as an adaption to cold weather and the associated color change draws many tourists to the area.

Flowers
    Flowers are the most easily recognized parts of most plants.  They usually consist of petals and sepals, petals being the main part of the flower and colorful and soft.  Sepals are normally green and encircle the petals as a base.  In some flowers, such as irises and orchids the sepals are colored similar to the petals and form a major part of the flower.  There may be a sterile bract which is a modified leaf framing the flower.  Dogwood "flowers" actually consist of the bract surrounding a cluster of small inconspicuous flowers.

Wild Columbine
    Flowers are classified into three main groups. Regular flowers, such as the buttercup and lily family, have a radially symmetrical group of equal sized petals.  Irregular flowers are characterized by unequal parts that are bilaterally symetrical.  Peas, orchids, and violets are examples of irregular flowers.  Composite flowers include asters and goldenrods and are made up of several small disk florets with small equal petals.  The disk florets are then surrounded by a ring of ray florets which have an enlarged petal.  The overall impression is of one complex flower.
    No matter which group they are, flowers are the reproductive part of the plant.  They are most commonly pollinated by insects, but some are pollinated by birds and others by wind.  Insect pollinated flowers tend to be large enough to give the insect a place to land and are usually yellow, orange, or white to be easily visible.  Bird pollinated flowers are often red and have a long tube containing nectar that is innaccesible to bees and other insects.  Wind pollinated flowers tend to be small and inconspicuous.  Many lack petals altogether.
    The pollen producing part of flowers (considered the male part) are the stamens, consisting of a long filament and the anther.  The anther produces pollen which is then picked up by a pollinator and carried on to the next flower.  The pistil is the female part of the flower and it accepts the pollen.  The swollen base of the pistil contains the ovaries which produce the seeds and the fruit.
    Flowers are classified as perfect or imperfect. Perfect flowers have both male and female parts in one flower.  Imperfect flowers have only male or only female parts.  Some plants with imperfect flowers have both male and female flowers on one plant.  These are termed diecious.  Those species with only one sex flower on the plant are monecious.

Groups
    There are literally thousands of protists, fungi, algae, and vascular plants in New York State.  This lists only those species which I have write-ups and photographs.  I don't know a lot about about the taxonomy of plants and the like, so what is listed is only a basic overview of what I know.  If you find any mistakes or inaccuracies email me.

Kingdom Protista - Protists
    Phyla Myxomycota and Acrasiomycota- Slime Molds

Slime molds are a much misunderstood group.  There is still much debate as to whether they belong in the kingdom with the one-celled protists or the fungi.  They are now considered protists.  Slime molds grow in damp areas and can either be pretty and colorful or gross and disgusting.  Most commonly slime molds spend their time below ground as single cells feeding on decaying plant matter.  Every now and then the cells congregate to form spores that develop into new slime molds.  This phase of their life is the most visible and weird.  Occasionally, slime molds will move across land searching for better breeding grounds.  They move across the ground in an amoeboid blob like the "B" rate horror movies of the 1950's and 60's.

Kindom Fungi- Mushrooms and kin

    Mushrooms and other fungi, along with slime molds and bacteria, are the decomposers of the natural world.  They change dead and dying biological material into forms that other life can use.  Most plants are dependant upon a symbiotic fungus in their roots to grow.  The fungus converts the soil into raw nutrients and elements that the plant then uses to grow.  These are called mycorrhizal associations.  Although fungi are much more common in their unicellular phases they are most commonly seen in their reproductive stage.  Most fungi spend their life as an underground net-like mass of cells spreading far and wide absorbing nutrient from their substrate.  When they begin their reproductive cycle they grow in dense clusters that push above ground and are known as mushrooms.  These reproductive structures release microscopic spores which are carried by the wind and develop into new fungus.
    Although many mushrooms are edible, many poisonous mushrooms resemble edible ones.  No one should eat wild mushrooms except those well versed in the species.

Kingdom Plantae- Plants
 

Ferns are primitive plants that don't produce seeds.  Instead they release spores into the air similar to the way mushrooms reproduce.  The spores are contained in tiny sacs called sporangia.  Several sporangia grouped in a pattern form a sori.  The sori in turn may be spread out randomly on the underside of the leaf, or in spots and patterns.  These patterns can help to identify ferns in the field.
    The stem of a fern grows along the ground as a rhizome and from this sprout the leaves.  Most fern leaves are divided once (pinnate), twice, (bipinnate) or three times (tripinnate.)  These divisions are referred to as leaflets.
    Young leaflets arise in a curled position.  The young leaves are called "fiddleheads" and some species may be edible while others are deadly.
 

Flowering Plants

Flowering plants are one of the most diverse groups on the planet.  Although many are large and showy, others are small and inconspicuous and seldom observed.  I have opted to include only the most common, interesting, or easiest observed plants in New York state.  For a discussion of flowers and flower parts see the preceding sections.

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