CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY FLOWER STUDY KIT
How many flowers do students have to learn?
Kindergarten - 10
First grade - 15
Second grade - 20
Third grade - 25
Fourth grade - 30
Fifth grade - 35
Sixth grade - 40, classified by family
Seventh grade - also
learn flower parts and their basic function
Eighth grade - also key out one tree and two flowers
Students may choose to learn any flowers in the kit.
Since this test is for junior botanists some things have been simplified.
Adults should be aware there are nine species of
Indian paintbrush in Marin, two species of
mule ears, three species of
iris, two species of
fiddleneck (one of which has two subspecies), two species of
trillium, and five purplish
larkspurs. There is another plant in the same genus as the
star lily which looks similar, and two other plants in the same genus as
hog fennel which look similar.
In the case of all the other flowers the common name refers to a specific species.
Here are some things to point out to children that may make learning the flowers easier.
Mule ears are named for the big leaves that look like a mule's ears.
The petals of
mouse ears each have two lobes like the ears of a mouse.
Mouse ears and milkmaids are both white, but notice
mouse ears have five petals and milkmaids have four petals.
Leopard lilies have spots just like a leopard.
Chinese houses look like a pagoda.
Mission bells hang down like bells.
Milkmaids are white like milk.
Buttercups and suncups are both yellow, but
suncups have four petals and buttercups have many shiny petals.
Pussy ears look fuzzy with hairs on the petals.
Interesting flower facts
Native Americans used
poppies for toothache.
A tea from
yarrow was used for toothache, earache, and cleansing wounds.
The outer leaf fibers of
Douglas iris were used to make rope.
Women scraped the fibers off with shells, and men made the rope.
Flower Photographs:
Yarrow/CowParsnip
Violets
Mouse Ears/Miner's Lettuce/Milkmaids
Lupine/Hillside Pea/Tomcat Clover
Mule Ears/Tidy Tips
Orchids
Buttercups/Suncups/Seep-Spring Monkeyflower
Solomon's Seals/Fairy Bells/Indian Pink
Indian Paintbrush/Indian Warrior/Owl's-Clover
Starlily/Mariposa
Footsteps of Spring/Hog Fennel/Purple Sanicle
Thistle/Sneezeweed/Cream Sacs/Butter&Eggs
Mission Bells/Leopard Lily
Trilliums
Douglas Iris/Ground Iris/Blue Eyed Grass
Bee Plant
Columbine/Larkspurs
Fiddleneck/Hound's Tongue/Morning Glory
Pussy Ears/Baby Blue Eyes
Lupine/Chinese Houses/Checkerbloom
Bleeding Hearts/Shooting Stars/California Poppy