Download Children`s Discovery Guide NW NATIVE PLANT GARDEN at Point

WHY DO PLANTS AND ANIMALS
HAVE TWO NAMES?
The common name of a plant or animal is a “nickname” people give them. It could be a short
version of the scientific name or could refer to the
shape, color or where it is found. A bird’s
common name can even be the sound of its song!
Every plant and animal on earth is given a two-part
scientific name in Latin. The first part is the
generic name or genus. The second part is the
specific name or species. Both are written in
italics with the genus name capitalized. Example:
bear grass-Xerophyllum tenax. Xerophyllum is the
genus, tenax the species.
.
CHECK YOUR ANSWERS
1
Frond
Bears
2
3
4
The rose family
Canoes, homes, tools, masks,
baskets, clothing and diapers
5
In summer, after flowering
6
Pacific rhododendron
7
Three-leaf clover
8
A plant with leaves that stay green
all year
9
10
The inner bark
To line pit ovens and baskets
LOOK FOR BIRDS IN THE GARDEN
Find these birds in the garden. They use the
native plants for food and shelter, and in return help
the plants to reproduce.
The Rufous Hummingbird
Selasphorus Rufus
NW NATIVE PLANT GARDEN
at Point Defiance Park
Children’s Discovery Guide
A TREASURE HUNT
is a migratory bird. It is
about 3 inches long. It uses
its long tongue to drink
flower nectar and to catch
insects from spider webs or
in flight. The rufous’ nests
are often built in huckleberry
shrubs or in drooping
branches of red cedar trees.
The American Robin
Turdus migratorius
is a migratory bird. It
builds a nest with
grass, twigs, paper, and
feathers, then smears it
with mud and lines it
with soft material like
grass . Their favorite
food is earth worms.
The Black-capped Chickadee
Poecile atripillus
is a non-migratory bird
whose common name
comes from its “chick-a
dee dee dee” call. It eats
seeds, insects and
berries. The chickadee
has a great memory and
remembers where it hid
its food for up to 28 days!
LEARN NEW WORDS
Annual: A plant that lives for one year.
Blossom: Flower. Could be a noun or a verb.
Conifer: A tree or shrub bearing cones and
evergreen leaves (also called needles). From the
Latin words, conus (cone) + ferre (to bear).
Deciduous: A tree or shrub which loses its leaves
in the fall, growing new leaves the following spring.
From the Latin word deciduus (falling).
Evergreen: A plant with leaves that stay green all
year.
Foliage: Plant leaves.
Frond: The name of a fern leaf.
Welcome to the NW Native Plant Garden where you
are going on a treasure hunt to find some very
special plants called “native plants”.
They are called “native plants” because they have
been growing in the Pacific Northwest for
centuries. These plants have adapted to the Pacific
NW climate and have become resistant to the
Pacific NW insects and plant diseases. Native plants
are healthy and easy to grow. They provide food and
homes for the animals who live here. The NW Coastal
Native Americans used them for food, clothing,
shelter and medicine.
Find some of these special plants in this garden. Learn
more about them by going on this treasure hunt!
The NW Native Plant Garden was started
in 1963 by the Tacoma Garden Club, a
member of The Garden Club of America.
The garden displays a wide variety of NW
native plants. It is maintained by the Tacoma Garden
Club in cooperation with Metro Parks Tacoma.
Learn more at www.TacomaGardenClub.org
Migratory: An animal which moves to warmer
places during the winter months and returns in the
spring
Nectar: A sugary liquid produced mostly by
flowers. Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and bats
feed on nectar.
Oval: Shaped like an egg.
Perennial: A plant that lives for more than two
years. From the Latin words per (through) + annus
(year).
Pit Oven: Also earth oven. A hole in the ground
used to bake, smoke, or steam food.
Shrub: A woody plant which has several stems
growing from the base, not a single trunk like a tree.
Wetland: Land where the soil is flooded with
water. May be seasonal.
Printed February 2012
1
Sword Fern
Polysticum munitum
4
Western Red Cedar
Thuja plicata
Pacific Rhododendron
Rhododendron macrophyllum
6
8
Evergreen Huckleberry
Vaccinium ovatum
 Evergreen fern with long, dark
green upright fronds
 Rough fronds have a long
center stem with many leaves
growing outward
 Fronds are sword shaped
 NW Native Americans used
them to make bedding, cover the
floor, and to line pit ovens
 Large conifer with drooping
branches that turn up at ends,
bearing long cones in fall
 Dense foliage provides shelter
and nesting materials for birds,
tree squirrels and porcupines
NW Native Americans used it for
canoes, homes, tools, masks,
baskets, clothing and even diapers
 Large evergreen shrub which
can grow to 15 feet tall
 Washington state flower
 Groups of bell shaped pink
blossoms in spring
 Flowers attract butterflies
 Songbirds like to nest in the
larger shrubs
 Bushy evergreen shrub with
small shiny oval leaves
 In spring small light pink bell
shaped flowers that attract bees
and hummingbirds
 Small, round, dark purple
berries ripen in summer
Bears and birds love to eat the
berries
What is the name of a fern leaf?
List some ways NW Native Americans used the
red cedar tree:
What is the Washington state flower?
What does “evergreen” mean?
 Large perennial herb with
evergreen grasslike green leaves
 In spring tiny white flowers form
a pyramid shaped cluster at end
of stalk
 Bears eat tender leaf bases
 NW Native Americans used it
for hats, capes and baskets
Who likes to eat bear grass?
YOUR TREASURE
HUNT
1. Find the native
plants with the help
of the map and the
signs. Remember
that plants change
through the seasons
2. Read the
information about
the native plants
3
Salmonberry
Rubus spectabilis
5
Salal
Gautheria shallon
3. Look for underlined words in this
Guide
4
5
3
8
4. Answer the
questions. Check
your answers on
other side of the
Guide
6
2
10
9
1
E
Bear Grass photo by Larry Hufford, used with permission
p
nt Garden Ma
7
5. Try to find the
birds pictured in the
Guide
nc
nt r a
e
Bear Grass
Xerophyllum tenax
2
Pla
e
v
i
at
NW N
7
Oregon Oxalis
Oxalis oregana
9
Oregon Grape
Mahonia aquifolium
 Evergreen shrub with thick shiny
green leaves which have pointy
edges – ouch!
 Groups of small yellow flowers
on branch tips attract butterflies
in spring
 Round blue berries eaten by deer,
elk, and bears in late summer
 Inner bark used as yellow dye
Which part of the Oregon grape is used to make a
yellow dye?
10
Skunk Cabbage
Lysichiton americanum
 Tall deciduous shrub with dark
pink flowers in early spring
Member of rose family; it has
prickly branches
 Flowers appear before leaves
 Flowers attract hummingbirds
and bumblebees
Golden berries eaten by birds,
squirrels, raccoons, and deer
 Evergreen shrub that creates
a dense thicket in the forest
Thick, dark green oval leaves
 In springtime sticky white-pink
flowers appear
 Deep blue-purple round berries
form in summer
NW Native Americans used the
branches in pit oven cooking
 Low growing deciduous plant
that can form a carpet-like
groundcover in the forest
 Leaves shaped like three-leaf
clover, sprouting in late winter
 Small white to pale pink
flowers appear in spring
 This wetland plant’s large deciduous leaves appear in early spring
 Large yellow hood wraps
around the yellow-green flower
spike which smells like a skunk
 Deer and elk munch on the
leaves; bears eat the whole plant
 NW Native Americans used the
leaves to line pit ovens and baskets
The salmonberry is a member of what family?
When do salal berries form?
What is the shape of an oxalis leaf?
Name one way the skunk cabbage leaves were
used by the NW Native Americans:
Skunk Cabbage photo by Deborah McConnell, courtesy of the US Forest Service