You have decided to take up horticulture as a hobby. The first thing you will do in pursuit of this new passion is identifying a plant found in your yard or local environment. If you do not have a yard or live in an urban environment, visit a local park or botanical garden. Collect a field journal on your chosen plant (this means take lots of photos and measurements as you can).
Conduct appropriate research to provide the following information.
- Scientific and common name of your plant
- Classification of the plant (vascular vs. non-vascular, seedless vs. seed, flowering vs. non-flowering)
- Dominant stage in life cycle (gametophyte vs. sporophyte)
- Life span
- Reproductive frequency
- Method of reproduction (self vs. cross, artificial vs. natural reproduction)
- Method of pollen distribution
- Natural environment/distribution
- Type of root system
- Is your plant considered invasive or alien to your area?
Provide images (photographs, sketches, or even scans will work) of the following structures and label them appropriately.
- Shape of leaf (be sure to label all the parts of a leaf on one of your images)
- Primary and secondary growth (if appropriate)
- Flower or seed (if appropriate and available)
Rubric: Hobby Horticulturalist
| Criteria | Ratings | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant is identified | Scientific and multiple common names provided | Scientific and common name provided | Scientific and common name are not both provided | 3 pts |
| Plant is classified | Plant is fully classified (vascularity, seeds, flowering) | Plant is classified at only a high level (i.e. stop as vascular) | Plant is not classified | 3 pts |
| Life cycle is identified | Dominant and secondary stage are identified | Dominant stage is identified specific to plant at time of examination | No life stage is identified | 3 pts |
| Life span is noted | Full life span is identified, along with “guess” as to current likely life span | Average life span is identified | Life span is not identified | 3 pts |
| Reproductive frequency is identified | Reproductive frequency is identified, along with current status (varies by plant and season) | Reproductive frequency is identified | Reproductive frequency is not identified | 3 pts |
| Method of reproduction is identified | Natural and artificial reproduction methods are both identified | Typical reproduction method identified | No reproductive method is identified | 3 pts |
| Pollen distribution is noted | Pollinators and pollination identified | Pollen distribution is identified | Pollen distribution is not discussed | 3 pts |
| Natural environment | Natural distribution and environmental requirements are noted | Natural distribution is listed | Distribution is not identified | 3 pts |
| Root system identified | Root system is identified and illustrated | Root system is identified | Root system is not identified | 3 pts |
| Images are provided | Leaf, growth, flower/seed are all photographed or imaged from multiple views and each image is clearly labeled | Images are provided and gross features labeled | Images are not provided or are not labeled | 3 pts |
| Total points: 30 | ||||
