17.01-Classify plants using the scientific classification system
1. Scientific classification is in what language? Latin
2. The first word in a scientific name is the genus and if a name has cv it stands for
cultivar.
3. Using the following scientific names label the genus, species, and variety:
a. Ilex
vomitoria
‘Nana’
Genus
Species
Variety
b. Ficus
eleastica
‘Decora’
Genus
Species
Variety
4. What is the genus for each of the following plants:
a. Pine-pinus
b. Maple-acer
c. Oak-quercus
d. Holly-ilex
e. Dogwood-cornus
f. Azalea-rhododendron
g. Fig-ficus
17.02-Identify plants from the introduction to Horticulture Plant I.D. list.
1. Label the following ground covers to their correct description:
Blue Rug (Creeping )Juniper
Hosta
a. Juniper Evergreen ground cover with silvery-blue scale-type leaves.
b. Hosta Deciduous ground cover with 3” wide and 7” long leaves that grow in a whorled
pattern. Some leaves are solid dark green and some are green with yellowish or white color
mixed with green.
2. Label the following interior plants to their correct description:
Dumbcane
Geranium
Boston Fern
a. Dumbcane
trunk.
Poinsettia
Norfolk Island Pine
Spider Plant
Weeping Fig
Large variegated green and cream colored large leaves that are on a thick
b. Geranium Grown for hanging baskets and potted plants and has red, white or pink flowers
and green leaves that usually have long petioles and is popular for Mother’s
day.
c. Poinsettia A plant with flowers of dark, red, pink, and white sold at Christmas
d. Spider Plant Indoor plant with 18” long and ¾” wide leaves with light greenish line down
the midrib of the leaves and has plants developing at the tips of the shoots.
e. Norfolk Island Pine Plant that is about 4 feet tall and looks similar to a little pine or cedar
tree with dark green leaves
f. Weeping Fig Medium indoor tree that has drooping branches with shiny, pointed dark
green leaves and aerial roots on the branches.
g. Boston Fern A hanging basket plant with large green leaf-like growth that looks similar to
a long vein down the middle. It has many little leaf-like structures called fronds, but it has no
flowers or seeds
3. Label the following trees to their correct description
Willow Oak
Japanese Flowering Cherry
Sweetgum
Crape Myrtle
River Birch
Flowering Crabapple
Flowering Dogwood
Eastern Red Bud
Bradford Pear
Red Maple
Pin Oak
a. Sweetgum Large deciduous tree with star-shaped leaves that turn yellow, orange, red and
purple in the fall and also have burrs or prickly balls.
b. Japanese Flowering Cherry Small deciduous tree with deep pink double flowers about 2”
across used as an accent plant.
c. River Birch Medium deciduous tree that has unusually thin brown bark peeling off several
of its stems or trunks
d. Flowering Dogwood Small deciduous flowering tree that is usually crooked and has white
flower that are really bracts with a brownish color on the tip of each bract.
e. Willow Oak Large deciduous tree about sixty feet tall and forty feet wide that has narrow
green leaves and small acorns.
f. Flowering Crabapple Medium deciduous tree with flowers that also have 1”-2” diameter
fruit and green, red or purple leaves in the summer.
g. Red Maple Large deciduous tree that has red flowers in early spring before the leaves
appeared. The leaves are dark green with a gray color under the leaves which have three to
five lobes. The bark is light gray.
h. Crape Myrtle Small deciduous tree with light tan smooth bark. Each tree has different
colored flowers all summer and early fall in colors of purple, red, pink, and white.
i. Pin Oak Large deciduous tree about 50 feet tall with leaves that have five to seven lobes and
three or four bristle tips on each lobe that turn brilliant red in the autumn.
j. Bradford Pear Medium deciduous tree that has white flowers in the spring and reddish
purple leaves in autumn. It grows in a symmetrical shape with little or no pruning.
k. Eastern Red Bud Small deciduous tree with heart-shaped leaves, three to five inches long
brown bean-type pods and pink-purple colored flowers depending on the season of thee year.
4. Label the following trees to their correct description
Eastern White Pine
Leyland Cypress
Southern Magnolia
a. Southern Magnolia Large evergreen tree with big shiny leaves, white flowers and are 6”-9”
across and cone-like pods with red seeds.
b. Eastern White Pine Large evergreen tree with four to eight inch brown curving cones and
needle-like leaves four inches long with five needles per cluster.
c. Leyland Cypress Large evergreen tree about 50 feet tall with scale-type leaves and short ½”
cones and is similar to a cedar.
5. Label the following shrubs to their correct description.
Border Forsythia
Dwarf Yaupon
Evergreen Euonymus
Japanese Privet
Japanese Barberry
Winged Euonymus
Wax Myrtle
Catawba Rhododendron
a. Border Forsythia Large deciduous shrub with many bright yellow flowers in very early
spring.
b. Winged Euonymus Medium deciduous shrub with dark green leaves 1”-2” long that turn a
glowing brilliant red in the fall.
c. Evergreen Euonymus Large evergreen shrub with leaves that are 1 ½” to 3” long and about
half as wide as their length. It has all green leaves, some had gold around the leaf margins
and some had white around the leaf edges.
d. Catawba Rhododendron Large evergreen shrub with dark green five inch long and two
inch wide leaves growing in shade. It has many large flowers and grows in the mountains of
North Carolina.
e. Wax Myrtle Large evergreen shrub with yellowish-green leaves about 2” to 3” long with
serrated margins near the leaf tips. It has clusters of small waxy-gray berries.
f. Japanese Privet Large evergreen shrub with dark green leaves that are 3” long and 1 ½”
wide with raised veins underneath. It has ¼” dark purple berries with hard seed inside.
g. Dwarf Yaupon Dwarf evergreen shrub about 2 feet high and 2 feet wide with dark green
mature leaves about ½” to 1” long. New spring growth is light green and the stems are a
gray color.
h. Japanese Barberry Medium deciduous shrub with 1” long leaves, small spines at the leaf
nodes and ¼” to ½” red berries.