Author: Allison Zeleznik

Scavenger Hunt around Columbus

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Family Identification:

Indian Grass with leaf sheathing

Indian Grass with leaf sheathing

1a.)A Member of the Poaceae family with an explanation of the characters used to determine that family.

Indian grass (Sorghastrum spp.). This family is identified based on the entire leaf margins with parallel venation. These characteristics along with a sheathing leaf, a caryopsis fruit type, and hollow stem are characteristics of this family.

Found outside of Aronoff Laboratory in Columbus, Ohio.

Indian Grass

 

1b.) A member of the Asteraceae family with an explanations of the characters used to determine that family.

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). This family can be identified because many flowers are in a head that appear to create one larger flower.

This Black-eyed Susan was found at Battelle-Darby Creek Park in Galloway, Ohio.

Black-eyed Susan

 

Sight Identification:

2a.) Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota). Is easily identified by the small white flowers in an umbel formation that is typically 2-3feet tall. The plant is also known as a wild carrot.

This Queen Anne’s lace was found at Battelle-Darby Creek Park in Galloway, Ohio.

Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne’s Lace

 

2b.) Sugar Maple (Acer saccharinum). Is easily identified because of its palmate venation and  leaves with 5 lobes. In the fall, the coloration of the leaves are brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow.

This Sugar Maple is located outside of the Ohio Union in Columbus, Ohio.

Sugar Maple

Sugar Maple

Character Items:

3a.) A plant with simple, alternate, serrate leaves.

American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana). Is a tree that displays leaves that are simple, alternate and serrated. Simple leave are leaves that have a bud located near a single leaf stem. Alternate leaves are leaves that are arranged on varying sides of a branch (ie. they are not located across from one another, but staggered down the branch). Serrate leaves indicate leaves that have “teeth” or edges present.

This American Hornbeam was found outside of Aronoff Lab in Columbus, Ohio.

American Hornbeam with simple, alternate and serrate leaves

American Hornbeam with simple, alternate and serrate leaves

 

3b.) A plant with simple, opposite, and entire leaves.

Dogwood (Cornus spp.). Is a plant with simple, opposite and entire leaves. Simple leaves are leaves that have a bud located near a single leaf stem. Opposite leaf arrangement is when the leaves are located directly across from one another on a branch. Entire leaves are leaves that have smooth, whole edges.

This tree was found outside of Aronoff Lab in Columbus, Ohio.

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Welcome to My Backyard

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My backyard has a wide variety of plant life. Let’s take a look and see what I found!

photo 5

 

Primula laurentiana

Common Name: Bird’s-eye Primrose

Plant Family: Primulaceae

Introduced to Ohio, native to the  Northeastern United States

Field Notes: The pink Bird’s-eye Primrose depicted below was identified on September 14, 2014 in Hudson, Ohio. The habitat was a cultivated lawn with scattered, planted trees. The soil was rich with nutrients to encourage the flowering of this plant. The yellow eye within the flower along with the umbel arrangement helped to identify this plant.

 

Nodding Wild Onion collected in Hudson, OH

 

Allium cernuum

Common Name: Nodding Wild Onion

Family: Liliaceae

Native to Ohio

Field Notes: This white Nodding Wild Onion was identified near a rock retaining wall in a cultivated lawn in Hudson, Ohio on September 14, 2014. The soil was rich, moist, and provided excellent drainage for this plant. Helpful characteristics used to identify this plant include the small, white (or purple) flowers that grow in an umbel, or originating from one central point of growth. The smell of onion might be the most crucial piece of information in identifying this plant, the raw onion smell will be the most intense within the leaves. The leaves have a parallel venation pattern, meaning that the veins of the leaves are running in straight lines from the bottom of the leaf to its apex. Lastly, the “nodding” is a result of the curvature of the flower stem near the umbel.

 

Black-eyed Susan collected in Hudson, OH

Rudbeckia hirta

Common Name: Black-eyed Susan

Family: Asteraceae

Native to Ohio

Field Notes: This Black-eyed Susan was found near the bottom of a man-made hill in an overgrown, cultivated lawn in Hudson, Ohio on September 14, 2014. The soil was moist to moderately wet. This flower is distinguished by its large black head and yellow petals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited
Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide: The Classic Field Guide for Quick Identification of Wildflowers, Flowering Shrubs and Vines. Boston: Little, Brown, 1977. Print.
“Plants Profile for Allium Cernuum (nodding Onion).” Plants Profile for Allium Cernuum (nodding Onion). United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
“Plants Profile for Primula Laurentiana (birdeye Primrose).” Plants Profile for Primula Laurentiana (birdeye Primrose). United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
“Plants Profile for Rudbeckia Hirta (blackeyed Susan).” Plants Profile for Rudbeckia Hirta (blackeyed Susan). United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.