I have been trying to add more annotations to my observations, prompted by the recent articles on how it can assist with phenology, etc.
I run into some problems with observations about eucalypts. For these we generally need images of leaves, bark, buds, fruits and habit. (I confess that I often fail to provide all of these but I’m trying harder these days, promise!)
Buds and fruit are often very high in the tree, making it impossible to get a good image so I often search around the base of the tree to try to find a fallen twig/branchlet with has buds, fruit and/or leaves.
When I come to annotate this observation, the buds and/or fruit may have been alive several weeks/months earlier than the date of the observation. This will lead to inaccuracy with the annotation. Should I leave off the annotations for buds/fruit in these cases? [Alternatively, should I include them because they are present and it may assist an identifier looking for more “complete” observations to identify?]
Similarly, sometimes the only images of a leaf that I have are the dead leaves associated with the fallen twig, but I know that there would have been green leaves on the tree (eucs are not deciduous). In this case should I add an annotation for green leaves, or just leave it?
Thanks for your comments.
I’d include the photos, just not annotate them unless they were fresh or still attached to the tree. I get a bit excited when I find a newly-fallen eucalypt branch (or even tree) so that I can get photos of fresh buds, flowers etc.
how does one judge freshness? for example, sometimes eastern redbuds in my area hold onto pods a very long time. when they bloom in the spring, sometimes i still see pods from last year on the branches, and there may be pods on the ground, too.
True. If the pods (with seeds) are on the tree, too, then I’d mark the plant as having fruits. In my comment, I was thinking about plants that are long past flowering/fruiting but where including photos of fallen flowers/fruits can help identification. Sometimes, the situation is ambiguous and we do the best we can.
True, eucalypt seed pods (gum nuts) usually stay on the tree until completely dried out, and probably hang on for years. I was thinking more of flower buds and leaves in relation to “freshness”.