Plant study week

[falling rain]

I was wondering if anyone is up for a plant study week.

I look at plants when I'm out and about and have a reasonable knowledge of wild plants but a week dedicated solely to learning new plants could boost the knowledge quite a bit.

I mean take notebook, camera, magnyfying glass picnic, flask and actually get out there everyday for seven days after work, cross ref on the internet or whatever and study plants.
I looked through my readers digest book of wild flowers and plants the other day and realised I know about half the plants in the book.................. Try it............... Go through your field guide (and be honest with yourself ) how many plants are in your book and how many can you truly say you've seen or could identify in the wild.
I learnt Hiragana and katakana (Japanese writing characters) by leaning 5 characters a day everyday until I learnt them all and I wrote them out everyday first thing in the morning until I knew them off by heart.
If you did that with new plants you could learn at least 35 new plants in a week or more.
If several of us were doing it, I think it would be fun to discuss on here with each other the new plants we'd learnt each day. If you wanted you could concentrate on a particular family like umbelifrae for example and be really clued up on them by the end of the week.
Some techniques I've used is to rope of a couple of square metres of ground and concentrate on that area and see how many you know, and look up plants you don't know. Take photos, make sketches, use the magnifying glass, and vary the habitats each day. Wetland, marsh, deciduos woodland, coniferous coastal (if you can) etc etc. I'm studying plants constantly but a dedicated concentrated week of plants, plants and more plants should boost the knowledge considerably. It's nice to know lots of different plants and their folklore and uses even if they have no particular use in bushcraft.
What do you think and we'd need to decide a date?

 

[xylaria]

I am up for it.

Not fussed with to which week, as I go out every day.:umbrella:

 

[mace242]

This sounds ideal for me - been learning but this could help me. Count me in

 

[Mirius]

I like the idea though I know from experience that I'm a slow learner, and I think my knowledge is much too basic to be of much use in any sort of exchange. Still I like the idea though and I might work on it. Got to get my hands on a field guide first mind...

 

[falling rain]

It's not a competition Mirius and everybody's level of knowledge is different. Your input would be most welcome. If you want some learning tips I'm sure folks on here will have plenty of ideas. Different ideas work for different people. I learnt the other day Great willow herb. I've known Rosebay willow herb for years but not great willow herb. Some may think that's an easy one but it depends on where you live and what habitat you frequent. I always get a bit of a thrill when I learn a new plant especially if it has a use, and then suddenly you start seeing it everywhere.

 

[herby]

I always get a bit of a thrill when I learn a new plant especially if it has a use, and then suddenly you start seeing it everywhere.

Me too!!!

I'd def be up for this...

 

[Jodie]

Yes - I keep meaning to take my camera to one of my nearby railway stations as there's
a very odd-looking flower there that I want to photograph.

Also my local bean tree is in flower - funny looking flowers, like what popcorn would
look like if it was made of poached egg...or the other way round.

 

[combatblade1]

Im up for it but i live too far away, if it was on line that would be better or if we each posted useful sites that would help to.

 

[Jodie]

I thought it was online...

 

[JonnyP]

Nice idea Nick, I would like to join in....Can we put photo's of any plant we are struggling with on here incase others can suss it...

 

[falling rain]

Im up for it but i live too far away, if it was on line that would be better or if we each posted useful sites that would help to.

It is online.... Not a meet-up. Just do your own thing in your area where you live. Knowing that others all over the land are doing it too
Yes Jon by all means post any plants that are bugging you. Someone will probably know it.
The idea is to concentrate for a week on plants and spend as much time as you can afford studying them and then discussing them on here. I expect we all study plants on and off and take a look when out walking but by having a plant study week it sort of focuses it, and you can rejoice with like minded people when you find a plant you didn't previously know. For example I remember when I first saw meadow sweet for the first time years ago. I was really chuffed because I knew it's uses for tea and headache cure amongst other things now I can recognise it from hundreds of yards away. I don't know about others but I get a lovely feeling walking along through the countryside and being able to recognise different plants and trees and what you can use them for if you needed to and of course actually using them too.

How about 30th July - 5th August. ............Maybe we could have 4 a year - one for each season?

 

[Mirius]

Hmmm, well I'm still hopeful someone will be able to give me a nod as to the plant I'm stuck on at the moment. I've used all of the online resources that I've been able to find but still no luck

 

[Jodie]

Perfect idea falling rain
I'm seeing common mallow everywhere now!

Mirius do you have a picture of your plant? It's unlikely that I'd know it but I'd put money
on someone else knowing it. Is it already posted on the forum and I've missed it?

 

[Mirius]

<grins> yes already posted. I rather expect that it's common enough, I just can't find it!

 

[Jodie]

I had a look at your post Mirius but don't know the answer.

On the plus side I've got a better idea of what my strange flower is as I had another
look at it this morning. I was ready to post a description here and ask what it might
be when I decided that if I thought they were odd flowers then others might too and
so I googled for that.

Surprisingly, I found what I was looking for - it's some sort of passion flower:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=passion+flower+
(http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=odd+flower - 5 and 12)

When I first saw it I thought it looked like something that should plug into something
else as part of a complicated piece of machinery. The one I've got at my train station
is a very precise looking thing with discrete brown bands in the middle that look like
a two-pin plug and the neat radial dial effect surrounding it just makes it look like it
should be in a laboratory or as part of some engineering project. Brilliant flowers.

About a year ago I was visiting my niece who was at the stage of dandelion clock
blowing - she'd get upset if we went past one in the car and she didn't get a go of
it. At the time of my visit her dad was teaching primary school children and the
lesson plan was all about plants, seeds, flowers, leaves etc.

Her mum and I managed to find an unblown dandelion clock and place it safely at
the front of the car without her seeing it and we collected lots of other things too.
As it was a ludicrously hot day we had the air conditioning on in the car and when
we arrived at the school to drop off nature's bounty (plenty of sycamore-type things
for dropping in class) I picked up the dandelion to pass it out of the window at which
point the air conditioning whoomphed all of the seed heads onto a disappointed
niece in the back seat... and of course ruined it for the schoolkids too.

 

[JonnyP]

Not sure when we are meant to start this, but I was out today and came acroos this plant and am not sure of it... Its daisy family and proberbly a hawkbit, hawkbeard or hawkweed, but unsure of which.....Its about 3' heigh. Anyone recognise it...?
The plant...

The flower....

And the leaves...

 

[Wayne]

Good idea Falling Rain. Plant id is an area that I could improve on.

 

[Seoras]

It looks like a Hawkweed to me Jon. They often have lance shaped leaves.

Would like to take part in this as well.

George

 

[JonnyP]

It looks like a Hawkweed to me Jon. They often have lance shaped leaves.

Would like to take part in this as well.

George

Thanks George....So looking in my book I would plump for leafy hawkweed, being more of a grassland species...Would you agree...?

 

[familne]

This looks like perennial sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis), clasping leaves with rounded lobes and gland tipped hairs on the flower heads!