7Ranges
Pipestone Plants
Your study guide to some of the most common plants
found on 7Ranges Scout Reservation for fulfilling your
Pipestone plant identification requirement.
4/21/2014
st
1
Year Candidate
Identify in the field: any combination of 15 trees,
plants, or shrubs.
nd
2
Year Candidate
Identify in the field: any combination of 25 trees,
plants, or shrubs.
rd
3
Year Candidate
Identify in the field: any combination of 35 trees,
plants, or shrubs.
th
4 &
th
5
Year Candidate
Serve as or assist the Unit Naturalist or Astronomer or
serve in a designated leadership capacity.
Nature walks
The Eco department offers Nature walks on Monday
and Tuesday afternoons at 2pm during summer camp
for those who are interested in seeing the plants. If you
attend both walks during the week, you will earn your
ENVIRONMENTAL STRIP.
Blue Spruce
•
Short needles
•
Bluish tint
White Pine
•
Long needles in groups of 5
•
Remember by spelling out
the word WHITE
Ohio
Buckeye Tree
•
Official State tree of Ohio
•
5 leaf stems
•
Pod with a buckeye inside
Slippery Elm
•
Multiple leaves off of one
stem
•
Jagged edges
•
Feels fuzzy to the touch
Yellow Poplar
“Tulip Tree”
•
Tulip shaped leaves
•
Large white flowers
Shagbark Hickory
•
Shaggy bark
•
Multiple leaves off of one
stem
Sugar Maple
•
Sap is collected for maple
syrup
•
Dark green leaves with
medium green undersides
•
U-shaped between lobes
•
Winged seeds
Red Maple
•
V-shaped between lobes
•
3 large lobes, 2 small
•
Winged seeds
•
Can be tapped for syrup
but not very productive
Red Oak
•
Leaves are pointed
•
“Red Man’s Arrows”
White Oak
•
Leaves are rounded
•
“White Man’s Bullets”
Willow
•
Large droopy leaves
•
Long thin leaves off of one
stem
Sassafras
•
Leaves look like gloves or
mittens – thumb on left or
right, 3 fingers or one finger
•
Leaves smell like Root Beer
•
Can use in drinks
Bird’s Foot Trefoil
•
Low to the ground and in
clumps
•
Small yellow clover like
flowers in groups of 2-6
Bramble
•
Bushes with thorns and
blackberries
•
Can be found along the
path leading up to Magic
Mountain
•
Berries are edible and are
ripe when dark black
Bull Thistle
•
Flowers in clusters at end
of branches
•
Have bumpy surface and
end in long sharp spine
•
Stems 2-5’ tall
Canadian Thistle
•
Often found in thick
patches
•
Leaves alternate and
divide into spiny-tipped
lobes
•
Small and spineless heads
•
Stems 1-4’ tall
Carpet Weed
•
Small soft leaves that grow
in bar spots in the dirt
where there is no grass
•
Likes the hot sun
Cattails
•
Tall stems with a long
brown puffy tail on top
•
Long green leaves
•
Found in wet areas near
eco or along the drainage
ditch or down by the pond
Chicory
•
Large sky blue/purple
daisy-like flowers
•
Find it mostly beside roads
and highways
•
Open in the mornings and
close as the sun gets
hotter
•
Each flower is only open
for one day
Christmas Fern
•
Narrow leaves coming off
of one stem
•
Found on hillsides
Sensitive Fern
•
Likes shady moist areas
•
Sensitive to frost and dies
back when touched by it
•
Lacks a true stem and is
supported by a rigid leaf
stalk
Clover
WHITE
•
Grows in large fields in
large clumps
•
Has small white flower
•
Leaves are round with
white stripe
RED
•
Grows in fields
•
Has pink flowers
Coltsfoot
•
Yellow flowers – same
color shape and size as a
dandelion flower
•
Stems are wooly and
covered with bracts
•
Broad heart-shaped
leaves – “looks like a Colt’s
foot”
Crabgrass
•
Grows in low lying fields
and in bare spots in lawns
•
Looks like crab claws
extending from the center
Crown Vetch
•
Bright pink flowers found
along highways and on
hillsides to control erosion
•
Ground cover
•
Invasive
Dandelion
•
Grows in low fields and in
lawns
•
Yellow flowers that turn
into round sphere looking
seed pods
Dogbane
•
A woody stem that exudes
a milky sap
•
Two different species –
hemp & spreading
•
Pinkish white or greenish
white flowers
Feather Grass
•
Tall grassy plant with a
feathery tail at the top
•
Looks like feathers
Fleabane
•
Tiny daisy like flowers with
a yellow center
•
A wildflower that can be
seen along roadways and
in fields
•
Blooms all summer long
Garlic Mustard
•
Tall stalks with triangular
shaped leaves
•
One of Ohio’s worst
invasive weeds
•
Leaves smell like garlic
when crushed
Goldenrod
•
Found in fields
•
Dense stalks with clumps of
yellow flowers
•
Pollen too heavy to be
blown by the wind
Jack in the Pulpit
•
May be green or striped
•
Bright red berries in late
summer
Jewel Weed
”Touch Me Not”
•
Orange-red flowers
•
Seed pods that
pop/explode when
touched
•
An antidote for poison ivy
Joe-Pye Weed
•
Clusters of tiny pink flowers
on long stems
•
Smells like vanilla when
crushed
May Apple
•
Large leaf grows in an
umbrella shape low to the
ground
•
May have small white
flower
Multiflora Rose
•
Bushes that look like mini
rose bushes with thorns
and tiny rose like flowers.
•
Invasive and intertwines
with other plants
•
Subject of service at
7Ranges and may
be pulled
•
Everywhere at 7R
Oxeye Daisy
•
White flowers with an
orange yellow center
•
Typical daisy looking on a
tall stalk with low dark
green leaves
Panic Grass
•
Tall grass with sharp sides
•
Can cut up your legs
•
Grows in clumps or fields
Poison Ivy
•
Groupings of 3 leaves that
are shiny
•
On a red vine
•
Can find growing up trees
or on the ground
Queen Ann’s
Lace
“Wild Carrot”
•
The flower looks like lace
•
The leaves look like carrot
leaves and the root smells
like carrot
•
Each flower cluster is
made up of a bunch of
tiny flowers
Wood Sorrow
“Sour-Grass”
•
Has heart shaped leaves in
groups of three
•
Small yellow flowers
•
Leaves have a lemon taste
•
Often confused as clover
Staghorn Sumac
•
Red hairy flowers at the
tips of the branches
•
Hairy branches resembling
deer antlers
•
May be a shrub or a tree
Trillium
•
Ohio State wild flower
•
Three leaves and three
pedals
Virginia Creeper
•
Can look like poison ivy
when it has only 3 leaves
•
When full grown, it has 5
leaves
•
Grows on a vine
Yarrow
•
Fern like leaves
•
Small white flowers in
clusters
•
Crushed leaves rubbed on
your skin will give a
numbing sensation
Study Aids
These are just some of the plants you will find at Summer Camp.
There are hundreds of them. Study the binders that will be at
camp, this slide show or make yourself flash cards. All these will
help in studying for your plants ahead of time.
Do not wait till the last minute at camp to get with your Naturalist.
When doing you nature walks with your Naturalist, make sure you
have studied and give yourself plenty of time. It may take a
couple of walks to get them all done.
The End
Presentation created by Matthew Donze
4/21/2014