Welcome to my Plant Families of North America page where you will find descriptions of the plant families in North America I have covered so far. This part is new so please come back as I will continue to add new families as time permits.

All plants are classified by the family they belong to and then by their genus and species name. Their family, in turn, belongs to an Order of similar and closely related families. That Order is then part of the Eudicots, Monocots, Magnoliids, or basal Angiosperms. Below I have organized the families in their Orders so that you can see similarities between related families.

Note that most technical words have a hover-over description available, or go to dictionary of botanical terms to learn more. You will be able to identify plants like a scientist in no time!

Alismatales Order – Monocot Clade

Apiales Order – Eudicot Clade

Caryophyllales Order – Eudicot Clade

Gentianales Order – Eudicot Clade

Lamiales Order – Eudicot Clade

Magnoliales Order – Magnoliids Clade

Piperales Order – Magnoliids Clade

Sapindales Order – Eudicot Clade

Other References

Some other great resources for information on species of North America:

Canadensys Plant Search https://data.canadensys.net/vascan/search

Flora of North America https://eflora.org

iNaturalist Plant Search https://www.inaturalist.org/home

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center https://www.wildflower.org

Native American Ethnobotany http://naeb.brit.org/

USDA Plants Database https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/home

Willis, Lyrae (2023).  Plant Families of North America.  Not yet published. 

Currently Seeking Funding To Continue This Non-Profit, Ad-Free Work

If you are able to donate so that I can continue this non-profit work of supplying people with scientific information on the plant families, native plants, and invasive species found throughout North America, please donate using the GoFundMe link below. Thank you!