A Plant Identification Recommendation

[GaHillBilly]

Recently, my son participated in a 'nature walk' during which the ASM checked off my son's patrol on their first class plant ID requirement. Unfortunately, of the 13 plants he selected, 6 were non-native and 2 of those were invasive. Worse, he misidentified 5 of the 12 plants, going so far as to 'correct' (incorrectly) my son's identification of two of those plants. My son got the message, and shut up.

 

Obviously such an effort, no matter how well-meaning, does injury to the Scouts involved. The effect on my son is minimal, other than to teach him a further lesson in not trusting, without external confirmation, the skills of Scout leaders. But the other boys, if they remember anything from this, have been left with booby-trapped memories ready to explode when they are embarrassed or humiliated in high school biology class. Of course such events only serve to further establish the not uncommon high school perception of Boy Scouts as 'incompetent nerds'!

 

Anyhow, I'm posting my recommendations for Scouters teaching 1st Class plant ID below. Feel free to comment. PLEASE offer any corrections you can; it's very likely I've made mistakes.

 

(I also included a rant on bogus skill training and check-offs.)

 

GaHillBilly

 

 

 

[ RANT ]

 

As some of you know, I'm new to Scouting, but this whole problem of giving Scouts 'fake' skills is rapidly becoming a real pet peeve of mine. I've already (in less than a year!) seen multiple case of older Scouts moving to the background, at least in part because they don't actually HAVE the skills they are supposed to have.

 

It was disheartening this summer to watch a Life Scout with a canoeing MB bail on the second run of a canoe trip. He'd been enthusiastic about going, and had mentioned using his MB skills. I don't know beyond all doubt, but it certainly seemed that the primary reason was that it turned out that he didn't possess even basic canoe skills, and had embarrassed himself on the first run.

 

When I look at the list of MBs offered by many camps in this region, I gag. There's no way a Scout can *legitimately* complete the Insect Study, Mammal Study or Personal Fitness MBs at camp. Camp week completions of the Bird Study, Computer, Environmental Study MB are necessarily very superficial, with carefully pre-selected option 'choices'. Yet all these, and more, are commonly offered at camps, and even 1-day merit badge 'colleges'. When I see all the Eagle badges offered at MB colleges, I want to throw up! Many of the Scouts victimized this way don't know, till too late, that they are being shortchanged and aren't getting the 'real deal'.

 

If BSA National would add another element to the Scout Law:

 

--- A Scout is bogus ---

 

then the Scouts would at least have some advance warning that they don't actually possess *real* skills, and could avoid the public humiliation that occurs when they first try to use the bogus skills they've been certified in.

 

Yuck!

 

[ /RANT ]

 

 

 

 

[ RECOMMENDATION ]

 

The 1st Class requirement is:

"6. Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of native plants found in your community."

 

Exegeting this carefully, please note that the requirement is "10 kinds", and not "10 species".

 

+ Recommendation #1: Know, and avoid invasives common to your area.

-- In the Southeast, some of the most common invasives include kudzu (Pueraria lobata), Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), Johnson grass (Pueraria lobata), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).

-- In general, avoid trying to ID herbs and grasses. Identifications difficult and often seasonal, and many, many common herbs and grasses are non-native!

-- Use http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/seagrant/invlists.html'>http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/seagrant/invlists.html to ID the invasives in your region.

 

+ Recommendation #2: Avoid plant families with many non-natives resident in the US. Especially avoid families which include common ornamentals or agricultural plants!

-- Again, in the Southeast, this includes honeysuckles, ivys and ground plants, grasses, shrubs, herbs and fruit trees.

-- Bradford pear is NOT native! Neither is most of the wisteria you are likely to see.

-- Many common forage crops, including several common clovers, are also not native! (If you learned it on a farm, you probably should NOT use it for BSA plant ID!)

 

+ Recommendation #3: Do NOT trust local names you've always known. They are often misleading and occasionally wrong. Check it out, and make sure you have the scientific name down, at least on paper. Wikipedia is a good first start, and often has links to more authoritative (and more difficult!) sites.

-- For example, I grew up calling *Liriodendron tulipifera* a "tulip poplar", but it's not a poplar and most guides call it a "tuliptree".

 

+ Recommendation #4: Settle for identifying the plant FAMILY ("kinds") rather than the species in cases where species identification is challenging. For example,

-- Oaks! Distinguish 'red oaks' (bristle tipped leaves, generally) from 'white oaks' (non-tipped leaves), but leave the rest alone. 206 USDA species.

-- Hickories & Walnuts! Except for the shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) and the black walnut (Juglans nigra), correct identification is difficult. 22 USDA species in genus Carya and 15 in Juglans.

-- Pines! Many local names are 'wrong', and don't correspond to what's in guide books. Often local identifications use names of other species. 75 USDA species

-- Birches! In my area, river birch is native and fairly common . . . but the very similar paper birch has been widely planted as an ornamental.

-- Maples! Confusing . . . and you have to watch out for non-natives. 26 USDA species

-- Hawthorns! Even experts, except for specialists, don't try to ID hawthorn species. 208 USDA species.

-- For most leaders, elms, locusts, sumacs, magnolias are all better ID'd by family rather than species.

-- Grapes! Species are hard to distinguish, and imported plants have escaped cultivation.

-- Willows! The USDA lists 149 species.

-- Raspberry / blackberry / dewberry! Don't even THINK about trying to ID this genus by species. The USDA lists 237 species, and many are common!

-- Cattails! Can you reliably distinguish the southern cattail (Typha domingensis) from the narrowleaf cattail (Typha angustifolia)?

-- Trilliums! They are native, but trying to distinguish them -- argh! 39 USDA species.

-- Poison ivy / oak The USDA catalogs multiple species and variants, but there's debate whether the species are distinct or not. In any case, it's hard to distinguish them, because members of the Toxicodendron genus exhibit great morphological variation. By the way, poison ivy / oak are no longer considered part of the sumac (Rhus) genus, but poison sumac -- which is quite rare -- has been moved into the new poison ivy / oak genus (Toxicodendron).

 

+ Recommendation #5: Develop a list of easy-to-ID local native plants that are common in your area, and can be reliably ID'd by species for much of the annual season. Check it out, learn the variations in common names, and make sure of the scientific name! Note that making such a list may require use of range maps, to make sure that similar species don't occur in your area. I've noted the distinctive characteristic that makes definite ID relatively easy. I've listed candidates for such a list in my area, but there's LOTS of regional variation.

 

- Year-round:

-- Southern red cedar [Juniperus virginiana] --needles, bark--

-- Sycamore [Platanus occidentalis] --bark--

-- Shagbark hickory [Carya ovata] --bark--

-- Flowering dogwood [Cornus florida] --growth habit, bark, end buds--

-- Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) --bark--

-- Beech (Fagus grandifolia) --bark--

-- Black willow (Salix nigra) --twigs + growth habit + locale + range info--

-- Box elder (aka Ashleaf maple, ash maple, etc.) (Acer negundo) --green twigs + growth habit--

-- American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) --bark + trunk shapes-- (Easy to confuse with young beech, if you don't have local knowledge)

-- River cane (aka Giant cane) (Arundinaria gigantea) --leaves, dried or green--

[by the way, this is NOT bamboo, which is an Asian species and much larger, and it's NOT sugar cane, which is a non-native agricultural plant.]

 

- When in leaf:

-- Black walnut [Juglans nigra] --leaves + growth habit, nuts--

-- Tulip poplar (tuliptree!) [Liriodendron tulipifera] --leaves--

-- Red bud [Cercis canadensis] --leaves, flowers--

-- Sweetgum [Liquidambar styraciflua] --leaves, seed pod--

-- Virginia creeper [Parthenocissus quinquefolia] --leaves, growth habit--

-- Willow oak (Quercus phellos) --leaves, growth habit, locale--

 

 

References:

Starting point: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Invasives: http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/seagrant/invlists.html

Comprehensive: http://plants.usda.gov/

(they are currently -- 20Nov2007 -- having some server problems)

Google (of course!)

 

[/RECOMMENDATION]

[Dizzy ona cliff]

I totally agree with just sticking to family, especially since for most of the scouts a variety of general basic knowledge is better than specifics.

Also, I always like to include the plants that are of interest either as a potential hazard, such as greenbrier, or could be useful while camping, such as red cedar.

 

 

[SSScout]

Ditto the MB mills, camps and Saturdays. The boys have come to expect MBs handed to them. I rarely hear (my son included) of a Scout going out and SEEKING the MB.

 

I escorted some Scouts to a MB Saturday at a local camp. The info made it clear that the Canoeing class was meant to complete incomplete MB blue cards, but there were a couple of boys that came EXPECTING to get the whole MB in one day. I ended up being the lead instructor when the scheduled fellow didn't show (? Trustworthy?).

 

As to plant ID... my father was a timber cruiser in his younger days. I learned about trees before smaller scale things. I have trailed along behind some Scouters giving a nature walk and had to grit my teeth and use my best diplomatic language to correct some well meaning gaffs.

 

On a lighter note, I had a Scout friend name of Henry, whose plant identification system was like this... here's a big green thing and here's a little green thing and this one ain't got no green things on it... ( and he was the SPL for a time).

 

So would we have any Eagles at all if not for the MB Saturdays?

 

 

[packsaddle]

As you probably suspect, you are not the first to rant about some of the merit badges 'completed' at summer camp. My experience has been similarly varied. Some badges, usually involving waterfront or other physical activities, are well-done. Some, usually the 'sit-down-and-lecture' type, are embarrassing.

 

Regarding IDs, as a trained botanist, I could go along with knowing the genus of the plant. The family level is much too broad (for example the Poaceae includes all the grasses, including bamboo, corn, and rice). But the genus is good if being more specific is difficult (the various oaks, for example).

 

I don't know what to do about the MB problem though. In this unit I try to steer the boys away from the so-called 'knowledge-based' badges (many of which you listed) and towards the waterfront or things like first aid, fishing, pioneering, or archery and shooting activities.

But I'm with you on this topic.

[LongHaul]

GaHillBilly,

       While I totally agree with what you are trying to do I really have to ask if you think that is the intent of the BSA concerning this requirement? The effort involved in "weeding out" (pun intended) the invasive and/or non-native would warrant a "mention" in Scoutmaster specific training. It's not there, nor is it anywhere I can find. Personally while I think we should, and easily could with a little effort and training, do the rank requirements correctly as you point out I think that BSA intends for these requirements to include what ever is currently growing in your community. 

LH

[GaHillBilly]

LongHaul wrote,

"if you think that is the intent of the BSA concerning this requirement? The effort involved in "weeding out" (pun intended) the invasive and/or non-native would warrant a mention in Scoutmaster specific training."

 

I'm not sure what dialect of English is *native* to you, but in current American Standard dialect, "native", when applied to to plants or animals is a synonym of "indigenous", and thus excludes non-native plants, regardless of whether they are invasive or not. (The issue of invasive plants does show up, in rather substantial form, in some of the MBs Scouts are likely to see later, such as Plant Science, but is not specifically present in the 1st Class requirements. My point in mentioning invasive plants was simply to make it easier for folks to properly lay the ground work for such MBs.)

 

So, I think what BSA meant is clearly defined by what they wrote . . . unless you wish to argue that the writers and editors of the requirements were unskilled in basic English, and accidentally said what they did not mean. Of course, that approach to the Handbook and BSA's rank requirements will free you to redefine any requirement any way you wish. If that's your goal, you've already passed the 50 yard line on your way there.

 

To argue that a word in the requirements has specific meaning ONLY if that specific meaning is discussed in other arcane BSA documents not available to the Scout is a novel idea to me. I'm new enough to Scouting to have no idea whether such a claim is valid or not. I can only say if such an approach to the meaning of the requirements is sanctioned by the BSA that I'm both disappointed and puzzled.

 

GaHillBilly

[LongHaul]

If National is so **&^%well versed in the ENGLISH language and never prints something that it does not intend to be taken literally then please with all your education tell me what to do for a poisonous snake bite. Or for that matter which snakes are poisonous. I'll give you a hint look in the new requirements book instead of the Handbook at Tenderfoot requirement 12b.

LH

[GaHillBilly]

Darn, I wasn't thinking!

 

There IS specific official BSA confirmation that the "native" requirement is intended to be interpreted precisely as I did, in the BSA video on that requirement. You can view it here: http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/rankvideo/

 

By the way, these videos clear up a LOT Of questions I've had about precisely what is required or intended, and how some of the requirements should be met. I haven't watched them all yet. My son has done so, and to my surprise, thinks they are very helpful, possibly because the videos put the BSA on our side in the recent and unfruitful discussions we had with his former SM.

 

GaHillBilly

[LongHaul]

Sorry GaHillBilly not buying that anymore than the poisonous snake thing. The video, if I remember correctly, says that "native" means they would still be here if there were not people to plant them. The invasive plants would not disappear if humans did, and you can't say that they would not have found there way here if humans had never existed. We have no way of knowing what the planet would be like if man had never appeared. Again I commend you on teaching your scouts the real meaning of "Native" just as I have been correcting people about the difference between poisonous and venomous for years. BSA on the other hand just got around to using the correct venomous identification and I really don't think they intemperate "Native" as you do. (and as I will now that you have enlightened me, not because I want to show off but because I think the boys should be taught at every opportunity how their actions can have lasting effects)

LH

[packsaddle]

While you two are sorting out who's going to eat the poisonous one and who's going to be bitten by the venomous one, the last question has been addressed (at least attempted) by Alan Weisman in his book, "The World Without Us". Here's a link that may stimulate some interest:

http://www.worldwithoutus.com/

I'm taking a look at it now to see if any of it can be adapted for a course I'm teaching soon. This stuff is such great fun!