Habits
If you're not sure where to begin looking, perhaps start with flower habit:
upright: usually multiple stalks, sometimes branched, often with "pods" (example)
panicle: type of highly branched flower structure (example)
grass: just that, may include the above (example)
| Scientific Name (photo notes) | Common Name (cultivar if shown) | habit |
| Achillea (flat-topped terminal clusters) | Yarrow (millefolium shown) | upright |
| Achillea ptarmica 'The Pearl' (white button pods) | Yarrow | upright |
| Amsonia (note late leaves, slender pods) | Blue Stars | upright |
| Anemone | Windflower ( 'Robustissima' shown) | panicle |
| Anthemis (thin, upright dark brown stems) | Marguerite Daisy | upright |
| Artemisia (often with basal silvery leaves) | Wormwood ('Oriental Limelight' shown) | panicle |
| Aster novae-angliae (often white fluffy seeds) | New England Aster | panicle |
| Astilbe | Plume Flower | panicle |
| Baptisia australis (rounded seed pods) | False Blue Indigo | upright |
| Calamagrostis acutiflora | Feather Reed Grass | grass |
| Campanula (hanging bell-shaped pods) | Bellflower (punctata shown) | upright |
| Chelone | Turtlehead | upright |
| Coreopsis | Tickseed ('Golden Gain' shown) | upright |
| Dianthus | Pinks (barbatus shown) | upright |
| Echinacea purpurea (spiked pods, eaten partially by birds) | Coneflower | upright |
| Eupatorium (tall stems, open panicle) | Joe-pye Weed | panicle |
| Filipendula (upright tall stems, flat-topped) | Meadowsweet | panicle |
| Helenium autumnale | Helen's flower | panicle |
| Helianthus | Perennial Sunflower ('Lemon Queen' shown) | panicle |
| Helictotrichon sempervirens | Blue Oat Grass | grass |
| Heliopsis | Perennial Sunflower | panicle |
| Hemerocallis (matted foliage, some seed pods) | Daylily | upright |
| Heuchera (usually with basal foliage) | Coralbells | upright |
| Iris sibirica (open pods on single stalks) | Siberian Iris | upright |
| Leucanthemum | Shasta Daisy | upright |
| Liatris (dense spikes) | Blazing Stars | upright |
| Lilium | Lily (Regal shown) | upright |
| Lobelia (light, upright spike in foreground) | Lobelia (siphilitica shown) | upright |
| Malva (usually with rounded seed pods, self sows readily) | Mallow | upright |
| Miscanthus | Silver Grass | grass |
| Molinia | Moor Grass | grass |
| Monarda didyma (button-shaped pods) | Bee Balm | upright |
| Nepeta (tangled stems) | Catmint | upright |
| Oenothera (basal green leaves) | Evening Primrose | upright |
| Panicum virgatum | Switch Grass | grass |
| Penstemon (dark diagonal in foreground of grass) | Beardtongue | upright |
| Phlox paniculata | Tall Garden Phlox | panicle |
| Rudbeckia fulgida (cone-shaped pods) | Black-eyed Susan ('Goldsturm' shown) | upright |
| Rudbeckia laciniata 'Herbtsonne' | Coneflower (Autumn Sun) | panicle |
| Salvia | Perennial Sage ('May Night' shown) | panicle |
| Sedum (flat-topped terminal clusters) | Sedum ('Autumn Joy' shown) | upright |
| Solidago (often white fluffy seeds) | Goldenrod ('Gold Spangles' shown) | panicle |
| Stachys (silvery soft basal leaves) | Lamb's Ears | upright |
| Tanacetum (button pods in center, stems sideways) | Tansy | panicle |
| Veronica | Speedwell ('St. Gaudens' shown') | panicle |
| Vernonia (like goldenrod, larger seed heads, more upright stalks usually less branched) | Ironweed | panicle |
| Veronicastrum (tall, upright stalks) | Culver's Root | panicle |
