Plant taxonomy is an ongoing area of research, one that (like many other fields) is undergoing substantial revision in response to information gained from coupling molecular studies with more traditional studies. The Intermountain Region is fortunate to have several excellent floras that apply to all or parts of the region, the most notable ones bing the Intermountain Flora, Flora of North American, and A Utah Flora. The problem is that it is hard to keep printed resources. We are in the process of creating identification resources for the region that will reflect current taxonomic thought but point people to the print volumes for descriptions and illustrations. These resources will be of three kinds:

1. PDF files that can be downloaded for free. These will include dichotomous keys, brief descriptions, and comments, if appropriate, on how and why the taxonomic treatment differs from treatments in the Intermountain Flora, A Utah Flora, and the Flora of North America. They will also cite the relevant pages in the three publications cited above.
2. Interactive dichotomous keys developed using Phoenix, a program developed by the Center for Biological Information Technology.
3. Multi-access keys created using Lucid, a program developed by the Center for Biological Information Technology.
4. Descriptive web pages that will use images of herbarium specimens or vouchered images of living plants to illustrate the distinctive features of a taxon, developed using Fact Sheet Fusion, a program developed by the Center for Biological Information Technology.

We regret that we cannot develop these resources instantaneously, particularly in the absence of funding, but we are starting. Links to the existing resources are provided below.