Tree and Plant Resources

Monticello Park has a rich variety of plants and trees. You can learn about the individual species in the Plants Section of MPNature. Here are resources to help you better appreciate the flora in the park. When searching for a species in the databases and publications, you will have better luck if you use the scientific name — a lot species have numerous common names, and the spellings vary.

These publications about trees and plants in our area are available online:

• Native Vascular Flora City of Alexandria, Virginia Roderick H. Simmons, 2015
• Native Plants for Northern Virginia from the VA Native Plant Society and VA Coastal Zone Management
• Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Washington-Baltimore Area — Part I: Ferns, Fern Allies, Gymnosperms, and Dicotyledons Stanwyn G. Shetler and Sylvia Stone Orli, 2000
• Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Washington-Baltimore Area — Part II: Monocotyledons Stanwyn G. Shetler and Sylvia Stone Orli, 2002
• Remnant Natural Areas in Parks, Waterways, and Undeveloped Sites in the City of Alexandria, Virginia: North Ridge Area Rod Simmons, 2014
• Non-Native Invasive Plants of the City of Alexandria, Virginia City of Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities, 2023
• Virginia Invasive Plant Species List Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2014
• Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants of Maryland Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Field Guide to Common Wetland Plants of West Virginia West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Watershed Assessment Branch

The following websites contain local and regional plant databases for our area. The National Audubon website link shows native plants found in Monticello Park's zip code.

• National Audubon Society Native Plants Database — Zip Code 22305
• Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
• Virginia Tech Dendrology
• Virginia Tech Weed Guide
• Maryland Native Plant Society and Maryland Native Plant Society Trip Lists, by Site
• PlantNative Native Plant List for Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia
• Prince Williams Conservation Alliance Wildflowers of Northern Virginia

The following websites contain national plant databases and databases from various regions of North America.

• USDA Plants Database
• Wildflowers of the United States
• Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States
• Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
• Illinois Wildflowers
• Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
• iNaturalist
• GoBotany
• Encyclopedia of Life
• North Carolina State University Extension
• Native & Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia
• The International Plant Names Index
• tree-guide.com
• A Guide to Wildflowers by Bloom Time and Color
• Native Plants Database of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
• Garden.org Plants Database
• The Best Gardening Databases on the Net
• PlantFacts search engine
• Adirondack Ferns
• Ontario Ferns

Here are books about how to identify trees and plants. Apps are also available to help you identify the plants you see at Monticello Park, which you can find on our page of Digital Resources.

• The Sibley Guide to Trees David Allen Sibley, 2009
• City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Washington, D.C. Melanie Choukas-Bradley and Polly Alexander, 2008
• A Field Guide to Eastern Trees George A Petrides, 1998
• Trees Allen J. Coombes, 1992
• Tree Finder: A Manual for Identification of Trees by their Leaves May Theilgaard Watts, 1991
• National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America Bruce Kershner, 2008
• National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Wildflowers of North America David M. Brandenburg, 2010
• A Peterson Guide to Wildflowers Margaret McKenny, 1998
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers — Eastern Region National Audubon Society, 2001
• Newcomb's Wildflower Guide Lawrence Newcomb, 1989

These books contain general information about trees and plants:

• Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Updated and Expanded Douglas W. Tallamy, 2009
• A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America Donald Culross Peattie, 1991
• The Private Life of Plants David Attenborough, 1995

These resources aid in learning about botany:

• Plant Families and why these groupings are useful
• The Meaning of Latin Plant Names
• Backyard Nature
• A Close-up View of Four Beggar-Ticks

These resources are about other life forms that grow at Monticello Park, including mushrooms:

• Fern Finder: A Guide to Native Ferns of Central and Northeastern United States and Canada Barbara Hallowell and Anne C. Hallowell, 2001
• Grasses: An Identification Guide Lauren Brown, 1992
• Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians Karl B. McKnight, Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward, and Warren J. Perdrizet, 2013
• Keys to Lichens of North America Irwin M. Brodo, 2016
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms Gary H. Lincoff, 2006
• Eyewitness Handbooks: Mushrooms Thomas Laessoe, 1998