Nature Identification Information
At Camporee, 15 - 20 plants, shrubs, and trees will be
chosen from the list for the team to identify.
4 points will be given for each correct common name.
An extra point is earned for each correct scientific name or
interesting information about the plant (for example: edible, poisonous, used in tanning hides, color of flowers
if none are present, etc.)
•Scientific name: All
organisms in the world have a
unique name, in Latin, that is the same all over so that
all people can recognize and identify a particular organism.
Since Latin is supposedly a dead language, it does not change and the
names will remain the same. The
scientific name has two parts:
•the genus, which is capitalized (somewhat like our last name) and
•the species, which is lower case (like our first name)
Some plants will also be
listed with ‘v’ after the genus and species, and another
name is listed after that. ‘v’ stands
for variety and breaks the species
down one more level to an even
more specific organism.
The following pages have
assorted photos of the plant, leaves, fruits, and flowers.
The common name is listed
first, then the scientific name. Next
will come identifying information about the plant. Additional information in
red for
the extra points comes last, although knowing the color of flowers, if they
are not present, will also count, and those are not in red.
Concentrate on knowing the common name and the extra fact.
Practice makes
perfect…don’t expect to learn these all overnight!