Especialidades JA/Flores - Avanzado/Respuestas
Para consejos e instrucciones, véase Flores.
Identification keys - also called dichotomous keys - are a series of questions which when answered correctly and in the sequence given reveal the identity of a plant (or animal, or any pretty much other thing that naturalists have studied in the past three of four hundred years).
Perfect and Imperfect
The terms perfect and imperfect as pertaining to flowers relates to their sexuality. Flowers are the sexual organs of a plant, and they may contain male (stamens), female (pistils), or both parts. A plant is said to be perfect if it possesses both male and female equivalent parts. If a flower has only male, or only female structures, it is said to be imperfect.
Jesus spoke of the futility of worry:
- Matthew 6:28-30
- "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? - NIV
Poison Hemlock
 Poison Hemlock
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Nombre binomial: Conium spp.
Descripción: Poison Hemlock is a herbaceous biennial plant which grows between 1.5–2.5 m tall, with a smooth green stem, usually spotted or streaked with red or purple on the lower half of the stem. The leaves are finely divided and lacy, overall triangular in shape, up to 50 cm long and 40 cm broad. The flowers are small, white, clustered in umbels up to 10–15 cm across. The plant is often mistaken for fennel, parsley or wild carrot although the characteristic stem hairs of the wild carrots are missing. The Conium root is fleshy, white and often unbranched and can be mistaken for parsnip. When crushed, the leaves and root emit a rank, unpleasant odour often compared to that of parsnips.
Dónde se encuentra: Poison Hemlock is native to Europe and the Mediterranean region, and to southern Africa, but has been introduced and naturalized in many other areas, including much of Asia, North America and Australia. Poison hemlock is often found on poorly drained soils, particularly near streams, ditches, and other surface water.
ADVERTENCIA: All plant parts are poisonous but once the plant is dried, the poison is greatly reduced, however not gone completely. Hemlock is also known as "poison parsley" or "spotted parsley".
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 Conium maculatum
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Dogbane
| Dogbane
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Nombre binomial: Apocynum cannabinum
Descripción: The stems are reddish and contain a milky latex capable of causing skin blisters. The leaves are opposite, simple broad lanceolate, 7-15 cm long and 3-5 cm broad, entire, and smooth on top with white hairs on the underside. The flowers are produced in mid summer, with large sepals, and a five-lobed white corolla.
Dónde se encuentra: Dogbane grows throughout much of North America, in the southern half of Canada and throughout the United States. It grows in open wooded areas, ditches, and hillsides.
ADVERTENCIA: All parts of the plant are poisonous and can cause cardiac arrest if ingested.
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 Dogbane
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Yew
| Yew
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Nombre binomial: Taxus spp.
Descripción: Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs. They are relatively slow growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m. They have reddish bark, lanceolate, flat, dark-green leaves 1-4 cm long and 2-3 mm broad, arranged spirally on the stem, but with the leaf bases twisted to align the leaves in two flat rows either side of the stem.
ADVERTENCIA: All species of yew contain highly poisonous alkaloids known as taxanes, with some variation in the exact formula of the alkaloid between the species. All parts of the tree except the arils contain the alkaloid. The arils are edible and sweet, but the seed is dangerously poisonous; unlike birds, the human stomach can break down the seed coat and release the taxanes into the body. This can have fatal results if yew 'berries' are eaten without removing the seeds first. Grazing animals, particularly cattle and horses, are also sometimes found dead near yew trees after eating the leaves, though deer are able to break down the poisons and will eat yew foliage freely. In the wild, deer browsing of yews is often so extensive that wild yew trees are commonly restricted to cliffs and other steep slopes inaccessible to deer.
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 Taxus baccata (European Yew) shoot with
mature and immature cones
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Some of these plants may seem familiar as they were also listed in the previous requirement in the "poisonous plant" category. It is curious, though it should not be surprising, that medicinal plants are also considered poisonous. This would be a good opportunity to talk to your Pathfinders about drug abuse.
Any medicine, if taken incorrectly, can poison the body, and that is why it is important to never take medicines unless there is a need for them, and then it is vital to follow the doctor's instructions (or the instructions on the package for over-the-counter medicines). Note that medicinal herbs found in the wild do not come with instructions! We highly recommend that you stress to your Pathfinders that they should never attempt to medicate themselves or others using these plants, as it can be very dangerous or even fatal!
Poison Hemlock
Poison hemlock has been used as a sedative and for its antispasmodic properties. It was also used by Greek and Persian physicians for a variety of problems, such as arthritis. However, it wasn't always effective as the difference between a therapeutic and a toxic amount is very slight. Overdoses can produce paralysis and loss of speech being followed by depression of the respiratory function and then death.
Poison Ivy
Extremely dilute forms of poison ivy are used in homeopathic medicine, most often as a remedy for musculoskeletal complaints with progressive stiffness that worsens with cold, wet, or inactivity and improves with motion, warmth, and use. The patient may have a red tip of the tongue or a red triangle on the tongue, herpetic outbreaks, and itchiness that improves with very hot water.
Bittersweet
Bittersweet is used in homeopathy and herbalism. Its main usage is for conditions that have an impact on the skin, mucous membrane and the membrane (synovial membrane) around the joints. Bittersweet is considered by some to be a herbal remedy for treating herpes and allergies.
Dogbane
Dogbane was used in herbal medicine to treat syphilis, rheumatism, intestinal worms, fever, asthma, and dysentery. Although the toxins from the plant can cause nausea and catharsis, it has also been used for slowing the pulse.
Pacific Yew
The Pacific Yew Taxus brevifolia, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, and Canada Yew Taxus canadensis are the sources of paclitaxel, a chemotherapeutic drug used in breast and lung cancer treatment and, more recently, in the production of the Taxus drug eluting stent by Boston Scientific.
We restate the requirements here for your convenience, but for instruction, we ask you to go to the entry on the Flowers honor.
- a. Arrange, draw or photograph a series of at least six flowers showing in order the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet.
- b. Submit fresh, pressed or dried flowers which have: five petals, four petals, three petals, no petals.
- c. Distinguish and name two out of five wild or cultivated flowers by their odor, while blindfolded.
- d. List flowers that you have observed being visited for food by the following:
- 1. Birds
- 2. Honeybees
- 3. Bumblebees
- 4. Butterflies
- 5. Moths
- e. Watch a flower for at least ten minutes in the sunshine, and at least ten minutes after dusk, and report on insect visitors. State the number and kind of visitors and name of flower.
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