Natives and Aliens

Studying plants to understand the history of the land

Introduction
When you step out bare foot onto the soft, green grass of your lawn, you touch the leaves of history. If you take a short trip on the highway or venture briefly into the woods, you also come into contact with an ancient saga full of natives and aliens. No, this is not a story about alien abduction. It is about the living history of local plants.  By studying them, you will understand your biological roots.

 

Assignment
Locate areas around your home or school that contain indigenous or non-indigenous plants. Your job is to: 1) collect two indigenous plants, 2) collect two non-indigenous plants, and 3) research & write about the plants you collected.

 

You must find one plant from the list of indigenous plants below and one plant from the list of non-indigenous plants below.  The remaining two plants which you collect are your choice, but should not be on either list below.

 

Indigenous:

Non-indigenous:

White Pine

Norway Maple

Red Pine

Oriental Bittersweet

Eastern Hemlock

Multiflora Rose

White Ash

European Buckthorn

Red Maple

Japanese Knotweed

Sugar Maple

Purple Loosestrife

Sassafras

Phragmites

White Oak

Garlic Mustard

Gray Birch

Water Chestnut

Black Cherry

Crown Vetch

 

A) Collecting Plants
Lawns that have not been mowed, roadsides, parks, and woodlots are great places to search for plants. If the plant is small, remove as much of the intact plant as you can (leaves, stems, roots, and flowers - if blooming). If it is a tree you are after, take off a leaf and then make a bark rubbing a crayon over it. This will give you the pattern of the bark (each species of tree has a unique bark pattern). Do NOT collect "garden plants" or ornamental plants around your home. Instead, your job is to collect wild plants that have not been planted or cared for by people.

After you have your leaves and small plants, they should be dried and flattened by putting them between newspapers and placing a heavy book on top for a few days. Later, remove the flat, dry leaves and neatly glue each on a piece of paper. Do not remove plants from the plant press if moist - they will rot! Also, careful collecting cattail, they rot easily and need additional time to dry.

 

 

 

 

B) Presentation
Below is the format you should follow for researching and presenting each species of plant you collect:

The front side of your sheet should have one index card with all of the identifying information for the plant.  The identifying card should be approximately 3Ó X 5Ó and follow the example shown below:

 

C) Research


Visit the school and town library to research the four plants you collected. Do not rely on one source of information, such as Microsoft Encarta! Describe the background of each plant - its history, medicinal uses, and any interesting trivial facts. What is its habitat, geographic range, and how can it be identified?

Click to get the Grading Criteria