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Thursday, October 4, 2012

Ravine Park: botanizing















We did a site walk in Ravine Park today to start off our Ravine project and collected a sample of tree and understory specimens for later study.

Students collected and positively identified the following plants:  Bracken fern, Sword fern, English ivy, Vinca, Cedar, Laurel, Douglas Fir, Vine Maple, Salmonberry.  There are other plants (potential birch, alder, and aspen - but we need to check these with tree guides).   We will dry the leaves and press them in books.

We found a coyote scat that looked like it had hair in it.  And I thought I saw a Cascara tree - it looked so much like the one in Camosun bog, but I was mistaken.  We picked a sample, and after returning to school, and seeing the pattern in the stem, I think it is more likely a really young horse chestnut.   We'll know for sure if we can observe the flower and fruit.

For your field notes, take a note of your samples and classify them as bryophyte, tracheophyte, and then gymnosperm and angiosperm and identify the characteristics that support your classification.