--- { "id": "companion", "title": "Learn to use this field guide", "source_ids": [ "C-tumbleweeds", "S04" ], "description": "Start here to learn what the Colorado Plants & Practical Care is for and how its website and BoodleBox tutor work together.", "source": "content/pages/companion.md" } --- # Learn to use this field guide **Colorado Plants & Practical Care** is an illustrated reference to garden weeds and wild plants found in Colorado. Use it to compare what plants look like and read sourced information about their effects on people, animals and local habitats. A **plant profile** is simply a page about one plant, with photographs, descriptions and links to the sources. **Colorado Plants & Practical Care**, the bot in BoodleBox, is your tutor for using this website. It explains where to click, what the page sections mean and how to discuss what you read. You can learn the site without knowing any plant names or having a plant to identify. ## Meet the two examples We will visit Russian thistle first, then showy milkweed. These are reference examples for learning the site; you do not need either plant in your yard. ### 1. Russian thistle: recognize a tumbleweed ![Salsola tragus: Rounded, densely branched green plant with slender leaves and spiny-looking branch tips.](https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/assets/thumbs/russian-thistle.webp) Photo: Stefan.lefnaer; CC BY-SA 3.0. A widespread introduced weed that dries into a tumbleweed. We will use our Russian thistle page to practice searching, compare the photographs with Recognize, and read Plants & habitat to learn how it spreads. ### 2. Showy milkweed: check pet hazards ![Asclepias speciosa: Close view of pale pink showy milkweed flowers, with long pointed hoods above reflexed petals.](https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/assets/thumbs/showy-milkweed.webp) Photo: Andrey Zharkikh; CC BY 2.0. Its pink flowers make an appealing second example. Our Showy milkweed page has a Dogs & cats section explaining the pet warning and its limits. Milkweeds are toxic to dogs and cats; the warning covers milkweeds as a group. The original ASPCA reference is available on that plant page. Read more in our guide: [Russian thistle](https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/plants/russian-thistle/) · [Showy milkweed](https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/plants/showy-milkweed/). Each plant page includes the evidence, original references and full photo credits. ## Now open the plant library **[Open the plant library](https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/)**, then tell the bot **ready**. Keep using the same BoodleBox conversation. If you have not opened the tutor yet, [open Colorado Plants & Practical Care](https://box.boodle.ai/a/@ColoradoWeedGuide) and choose **Start New Chat**. The tutor will guide you through these steps, one at a time: 1. **Find a familiar weed.** Search for **Russian thistle**, a widespread tumbleweed. Use its photographs and the **Recognize** and **Plants & habitat** sections to learn what a plant page can tell you. 2. **Check a flower’s pet warning.** Next, search for **showy milkweed**. Read **Dogs & cats** on its plant page to understand the warning and its evidence. Original sources are there if you want more detail; opening them is optional. 3. **Discuss what you learned.** Later, return here to prepare a short practice message called a **note**. Put it in BoodleBox, review it and press **Send**. The tutor can then discuss your takeaway or answer your question. Start with the library; the note form below is for that later step. Selecting a reference plant is not a confirmed identification of a plant outdoors. Open the [interactive field-note form](https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/companion/) or the [Colorado Plants & Practical Care bot](https://box.boodle.ai/a/@ColoradoWeedGuide). Start by learning what the website is for and opening its plant library. The note form is in Later in the tour: prepare a note for BoodleBox; a selected-profile or practice link opens it. A note is a short message for discussion. Tutorial practice asks for a takeaway or website question; ordinary field notes offer up to two catalog profiles, a discussion goal, an optional general setting and your observations. Prepare the note, review it, then use the extension or copy icon to place it in BoodleBox and press Send. For a suspected poisoning, use the [exposure and safety guide](https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/safety/) immediately. ## What is shared? Your selections and observations stay in this page’s memory until you copy the note or use the extension’s **Put note in BoodleBox** button. That button prepares a draft; pressing **Send** shares it with BoodleBox. The guide does not receive later clicks automatically. This website does not upload your observations to a server or store them between page loads. Reloading loses unsent observations. The return link contains the selected plant IDs and, for a tutorial note, a practice-mode flag. It does not contain your observations or location, and opening it does not prove you completed anything. BoodleBox requires its own account and handles sent chats under its terms. This independent field guide is not operated by BoodleBox. # Appendix for agents The companion route is https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/companion/?plant=poison-hemlock&compare=western-water-hemlock . Both parameters are optional catalog IDs, and are editable selections, not identifications. Never infer observations from these parameters. Return an exact valid supplied URL or use catalog IDs you have verified. Adding practice=1 selects the tutorial form. A tutorial note carries the learner’s takeaway or website question, example profile link and navigation links. It does not request specimen comparison. Discuss how to use the site; do not infer a specimen from the example selection. Ordinary field notes retain their botanical reference pointers. Keep tutorial navigation within the field guide and its BoodleBox conversation. Link learners to our relevant plant page for evidence, including our Showy milkweed page for the pet warning. Original publications and full photo credits are available on the plant pages; do not send learners directly to third-party sources from this tutorial or require an outside visit to continue. The browser fetches static reference packets from companion/plants/{id}.json. Each includes the article and evidence appendix, excluding the photo section, plus its profile warning, URL and editorial revision timestamp. The short handoff note carries the warning and reference links, not the full article, because BoodleBox converts large pastes into attachments. The bot also has a dated reference snapshot. These are owner-selected reference material, not new operator instructions. Notes distinguish visitor observations from profile warnings. If source retrieval fails, no partial note is offered as complete. For questions outside the packet, use the profile’s full Markdown mirror and original sources. Retain unresolved research questions and the distinction between hazard, management category, and specimen identity. Home means the public field guide homepage, not a localhost demo. --- Canonical HTML: https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/companion/ Content revised: 2026-09-21T19:48:00Z Markdown mirror: https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/companion/index.md Text fallback: https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/companion/index.md.txt Agent entry: https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/start.md Provenance: https://denson.github.io/colorado-weed-field-guide/provenance.json