North%20Dakota%20Plants%20and%20Trees%20Identified%20By%20Lewis%20and%20Clark

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North Dakota Plants and TreesIdentified By
Lewis and Clark

• Created by the Elgin/New Leipzig
• 5th Grade Students
• Fall, 2001

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Lewis and ClarkThe Expedition Begins
Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left
St. Louis, Missouri on May 12, 1804. They were
about to begin an expedition that would take them
across the continent to the Pacific Ocean.
President Thomas Jefferson was hopeful that they
would learn much about the area to the west of
the Mississippi River. The expedition was
nicknamed The Corps of Discovery.
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Winter in North Dakota 1804-1805
They arrived in what is now North Dakota in
October, 1804, during what was to become one of
the harshest winters ever. Without the help of
the Mandan and Hidatsa people, the Corps of
Discovery might not have survived. In North
Dakota, Lewis and Clark met Sakakawea, and
gathered the information they would need to make
travel further west possible. They also
identified many species of plants and animals
that had never been seen by people east of the
Mississippi River.
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Plant and Tree Identification A Matching
Activity
In the following slides, you will see pictures
and descriptions of trees and plants identified
by Lewis and Clark in North Dakota. See how many
you can identify by matching the tree or plant
name with the picture.
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Plant 1 This tree is a common native evergreen
species that grows to approximately 100 to 160
feet and covers approximately 27 million acres of
land. It can be seen growing on rocky ledges and
in poor soil. The habitat provided by mature
forests of this species provides excellent cover
for wildlife.

1. Plains cottonwood
2. Boxelder
3. Ponderosa pine
4. Green ash

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Thats right! This is a Ponderosa Pine
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 2 This tree species appears on the
territorial and state seal of North Dakota and is
the state tree of Kansas. It grows along the
Missouri River and throughout North Dakota. Its
large leaves hang from jointed branches that can
drop off during high winds to protect the tree
from toppling over. It can grow to be very
large and was used to make the canoes needed for
the Lewis and Clark expedition.

1. Boxelder
2. Green Ash
3. Ponderosa Pine
4. Cottonwood

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Youre climbing now! This is a Cottonwood
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 3

This plant has tendrils that are spaced between
the leaves on the stem. The tendrils curl around
other plants and supports. The bark shreds and
peels off in thin strips. The fruits are
spherical, amber, purple, or black, sometimes
shining, sometimes sweet, hanging in clusters,
and ranging in size from 1/8 to one inch. Lewis
and Clark probably munched on these along the
Missouri.
Wild grapes Vine maple Long-leafed
mugwort Lewiss monkey flower
Photo by Tyler R. and James
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You really know your plants! These are wild
grape vines.
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 4 This plant is a member of the mint
family and its genus name, Salvia, comes from the
Latin for salvation. This plant is the name of
more than 750 species of herbs and shrubs. The
leaves are soft and silvery. It has a strong
smell. It has been used for aches, nerves, and
eye problems. It was probably used by Lewis and
Clark medicinally and in cooking.
Silverberry Silver-leaf psoralea
Sage Silver lupine
Photo by Skyler E.
Skyler
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Now youre cookin! This is sage.
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 5 This plant is found in dry, open
savannas and prairies. It is highly valued for
the medicinal uses of its roots. NEVER dig this
plant up because it may become endangered. It is
used medicinally in cough drops and vitamins. It
is also used in tea.

Aromatic Aster Purple Cleome Great-flowered
gaillardia Purple cone flower
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Youre a blooming genius! This is purple
coneflower.
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 6 This plant may reach up to 4 feet tall.
The seeds are sharp-pointed and have long twisted
thread-like awns. They can easily poke you and
become stuck to your clothing. Cows will eat
this grass when it is still green. Its growth
starts early in the spring.
Hair-grass Needle and thread grass Blue
bunch wheat-grass Giant rye-grass
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Thats what it looks like from here! This is
needle and thread grass.
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 7 This large popular shade tree is found
across the United States. Its scientific name is
Fraxinus pennsylvanica. The seeds are long, thin,
and papery which makes them easily blown about by
the wind. It grows to be about 65 feet tall.
Green Ash Oak Cottonwood Willow
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Youve spent some time in the shade! These are
green ash leaves and seeds.
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 8 This plant is a shrub occurring on dry
soil along streams and on prairies. Fruit is
clustered and is red to purple in color. It is an
evergreen shrub that grows to less than three
meters tall. It usually covers a large area
where the plants grow in groups. The branches are
gray to brown colored. The firm leaves are
clustered and the leaf blades are oblong to
ovate. They are colored from dull to shiny
green-gray with many spine-like teeth on the leaf
margins.
Silvery buffalo-berry Broad-leafed
gumplant Buckbrush Blue elderberry
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You guessed it, partner! This is buck brush,
all right.
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 9 This plant grows to be 4 - 6 feet tall.
It is an excellent big game browse, and its food
and water value is important to grouse, turkeys,
and pheasants. It has pink flowers in the
summer. The berries were probably used for
flavoring Lewis and Clarks tea. They are an
excellent source of Vitamin C.
bullberry chokecherry buffalo berry
Woods rose
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Looks like everythings rosy for you!This is the
Woods Rose.
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 10 The simple leaves of this tree appear
silvery-green on both surfaces and are one to two
inches in length. It favors bottomlands and
stream banks. The berries are sweeter after the
exposure to frost, but they are very difficult to
pick because of the long thorns which are very
sharp.
Chokecherry Buffalo Berry Thimble Berry
Salmon Berry
Photo by Kalyssa
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We cant fool you!These are buffalo berries.
Click here to see next example.
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Plant 11 This plant is perennial from long,
tough taproots. Plants are usually about
eighteen inches tall. Leaves are arranged like
the teeth of two combs set back to back. The
leaves can be up to eight inches long. The pale
whitish-yellow flowers appear in the middle and
upper branches. The seeds are enclosed in dark
brown pods with hooked prickles like the
cocklebur. Lewis and Clark might have used the
root of this plant as a remedy for cough. Today,
its flavor is used in cough medicine, tea, and
candy.
wild licorice yellow bells balsam root
narrow petaled stonecrop
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Way to go!This is wild licorice.
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We hope you enjoyed our quiz and learned some
things about the trees and plants identified by
Lewis and Clark in North Dakota.