The Biology Department Research Garden Scavenger Hunt
Below are descriptions of a few species that have been located in the garden, do your best to find them!
Find the garden: go to the bottom of the home page and read the instructions to locate the garden. Open the gate: located to left of the sign, you may open it and explore the garden, but please stay on the stepping stones to protect the plants See how much you can find!
Find a branching seedling with green, compound leaves made of 20 leaflets. This is a Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) and it will produce beautiful yellow flowers in the late summer!
Find a seedling that has two leaves opposite of each other that rotate 180 degrees on each new row. The leaves have serrated margins and sandpapery texture. This is the Early Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) and it will grow to be five feet!
Find a seedling that has opposite, ovate leaves with entire (smooth) margins. This is the Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and monarch butterflies lay their eggs exclusively on plants from this genus!
Find an ant hill! Ants can be attracted to spots on plants that produce nectar outside of their flowers (known as extrafloral nectaries). While harvesting these resources, they help defend the plant from potential herbivory!
Find a seedling that has alternate, linear leaves with entire (smooth) margins. This is the Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) that grows clusters of orange flowers rich in nectar and pollen that attract a variety of pollinators (even hummingbirds!).