Sophia Strocko

5/23/19
Biology
John WIlkinson

Introduction:

The wildflower project has many purposes; to bring a consciousness to nature, to instill a

sense of respect for the environment, to allow students to participate in experiential learning and

to push them out of their academic comfort zone. However, most of all, the wildflower project’s

main purpose is to demonstrate the vast biodiversity of life. The entirety of my collecting was

done in the state of Maryland. Although numerous ecosystems are present in Maryland, I was

only able to collect wildflowers from the meadow, deciduous woodland, and riparian

environments of Montgomery, Prince George’s and Howard County. While collecting

wildflowers and observing their unique characteristics, I came up with multiple questions aiming

to expand my knowledge on the subject. Why is so much biodiversity needed within the narrow

field of wildflowers? What is the effect of climate change on wildflowers? What characteristics

of a flower determine the ecosystem it grows in?

Materials:

● Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide​ by Lawrence Newcomb

● Paper towels

● Heavy books

● Computer

● Google Sheets spreadsheet

● Avery label paper

 ● White cardstock

● Plastic page protectors

● 3M spray adhesive

● Tweezers

● D-ring binder

Procedure:

1. Go out into a variety of environments in pursuit of wildflowers

2. Once a flower is found, use Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb to

identify said flower

a. Identify number of parts, leaf arrangement, and shape of leaf to find unique

3-digit code

b. Find code in table of contents and follow the dichotomous key until page number

is found

c. Once on page, look at pictures and read descriptions until exact species is found

3. Pick flower and record flower common name on paper towel. Enclose flower in said

paper towel for pressing

4. Record scientific name, common name, city, county, state, environment, wildflower

guide book, collector’s name, and page number in wildflower database in google sheets

5. Place paper towel with wildflower inside beneath a stack of heavy, flat objects, such as

books, undisturbed for 1-2 weeks for pressing

6. Once pressed, spray cardstock with spray adhesive and to arrange flowers, using tweezers

to help with small details, to mount

 7. Transfer data from google sheet database onto labels and stick to corresponding mounted

flower

8. Place flowers inside of plastic page protector sleeves that can be placed into binder

9. Organize flowers in alphabetical order by family in binder

a. If there is more than one specimen in each family, organize in alphabetical order

within family as well

10. Place printed database and lab report inside of pocket of binder

Discussion:

Throughout the wildflower project, I learned a variety of things. Before the we started the

project, I knew nothing about the anatomy of flowers. Wildflower identification forced me to

learn the scientific terms for parts of flowers I would have previously ignored. Going along with

identification, I also learned how to use a dichotomous key through use of the key at the

​ n a more abstract level, the wildflower project

beginning of ​Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. O

taught me the importance of planning and organization. If I did not plan in advance when I

would be collecting flowers and when I needed to stop, my flowers may not have fully pressed in

time for the project to be turned in. In addition, I needed to be organized in order to keep track of

the flowers I had previously collected to save myself the work of having to find more at a later

date.

I had many missteps throughout the duration of the wildflower project. Firstly, I had a

challenging time identifying flowers. Often times, I struggled to identify the flowers I had picked

and would need to use outside sources to narrow down my hunt. Secondly, I had many issues
keeping track of my flowers, occasionally losing a few flowers for weeks at a time. In addition, I

had difficulties pressing my flowers in an attractive manner; they often came out crumpled or

wrinkled and I needed to re-press multiple samples. If I was to do this project again, I would

collect more flowers earlier in the project as opposed to waiting until the end and struggling to

find new species. Also, I would try to collect from a larger sample area in order to get a larger

variety of flowers. For me, the parts that went the best were more centered around the

technological aspects than the actual field parts; while I had some difficulty collecting and

identifying flowers, I had no issues with my database or formatting my labels. A helpful trick

that I learned along the way was to take pictures of all the flowers I collected as soon as I picked

them so that I would have that reference photo to use to verify my identification later. I also

learned that when mounting, it is helpful to plan the arrangement of the flower before spraying

the adhesive and that using tweezers to position the flower reduces smudges and marks on the

page. The part of the project which I enjoyed the most was the actual collecting of wildflowers,

and I liked mounting them and putting the book together as well. However, I strongly disliked

the identification process of the project as it was tedious and frustrating, especially for an

impatient person like me.

While I did not necessarily have an ideally large sample group, certain trends in my data

were still obvious Broadly, flowers seemed to be most prevalent in wet environments, as most of

my flowers were collected from moist areas. Another trend was between flowers of the

Buttercup family. All of the samples I collected from the Buttercup family were blooming in

early to mid april, showing that wildflowers in that family have a tendency to bloom earlier in

spring as opposed to later. Finally, I was able to identify another trend within the Violet family.
Violets had a tendency to be located around an abundance of other violets, much more so than

any other family of flowers.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the wildflower project was an enjoyable, educational, and enriching

experience. In the beginning of the project, I questioned why so much biodiversity is needed

within the narrow field of wildflowers, what the effect of climate change is on wildflowers, and

what characteristics of a flower determine the ecosystem it grows in. After reflection upon my

data, I realize that I do not have enough data and background information to be able to answer

the questions. I was not able to collect a large enough sample group from a wide enough variety

of habitats to have conclusive data to answer my first and third questions, and I do not have

enough background knowledge on climate change nor did I have enough time to monitor the

flower population over the course of many years to be able to find conclusive data to answer my

second question. If I were to do this project again, I would try to answer the questions of what is

the effect of the wildflower project on the wildflower population of Sandy Spring Friends School

and why do different species of wildflowers bloom at different times. From the data I collected, I

can conclude and claim that wildflowers grow better in moist habitats than dry habitats. Almost

all wildflowers I collected were from moist soil, and located in either ripariam or deciduous

woodland with a stream nearby; I only collected 1 flower from dry ground and 2 from rocky

terrain.