WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY Ms. Meiklejohn’s First Graders

Stony Point Elementary School January 2011

We dedicate this book to all the gardeners of the earth and everyone who loves plants.

How We Did It Our class started learning about plants. We looked through many books. Some of us already knew about the venus fly trap and nepenthes. We wondered about the plants that eat meat. Ms. Mary Lou made a slideshow of weird plants. We learned that some plants are carniverous. Some plants were awesome and amazing. We were really excited. After picking a plant, we drew it. Then we started to collage the plant. At first, it seemed really hard but then we said, “This is so easy!” We hope you like reading our interesting facts.

Rafflesia This plant has no leaves, no stem and only 5 petals. It smells like a dead body because it can attract flies. The mouth is in the center of the flower. When the fly goes in, it gets pollen to take to the next flower. The flower may be over 39 inches. Howard

Shelf Fungi It grows one ring a year. It’s a kind of fungus, not a mushroom. It grows on logs and dead trees. They’re strong and grow for a long time. I like fungi. Jules

Star Fruit A star fruit grows on a Carambola tree. When you cut it open, it is shaped like a star. It’s yellow with green edges and has brown seeds. It tastes sweet. Nikki

Venus Fly Trap Venus Fly trap has sharp teeth inside its mouth. It eats flies. When a fly lands on the trap, the plant chomps it up. Tyler

Banyan Tree This banyan tree has lots of roots coming down. They hang down and then go into the ground. The roots can strangle another tree. It grows fruit. Makasia

Strawberry Plant This plant has strawberries. Strawberries are fruits and they taste good. The white flowers have 5 petals. The plant has leaves and gold at the bottom. Sherlin

Monkshood Monkshood is purple with yellow on it and black dots. It looks like hoodies and is poisonous. Iminaye

Hedgehog Cactus This hedgehog cactus lives in the desert. It has a waxy coat to help it minimize water loss. The flowers stay open at night and hummingbirds really like the flowers. The plant really looks like a hedgehog. Charlotte

Dandelion The dandelion has green leaves. The flower is yellow and it has a white circle with seeds. One day, it will turn into another plant with a flower. Tori

Hedgehog Cactus This plant lives in the desert. If you touch it, it can really hurt you. It has very sharp spikes like needles. It has really pretty pink flowers that grow on it. Maddie

Pink Bromeliad This plant has a pink flower. It doesn’t eat bugs. It has interesting green leaves and all of them have white lines. It lives in the jungle. Hayleigh

Yellow Pitcher Plant This pitcher plant looks like it has an umbrella on top of it. It’s to make sure water doesn’t get down into the pipes. Austin

Cereus Wittii This plant wraps around trees and has prickly spines. It has 9 inch flowers. It’s a kind of cactus. It lives in the Amazon rainforest. Lucas

Nepenthes Rajah This is a rajah and is called “King of the Pitcher Plants.” It eats rats, frogs, lizards and other small animals. The top leaf attracts them, they slip down into the stomach where there’s goo and it digests them. It’s so heavy, it sits on the ground. Jesse

Welwitschia This plant only grows 2 leaves. It lives for 1,000 or 2,000 years. It lives in Africa. It is green with brown spikes on it. They call it a living fossil. Will

Dogwood Dogwood is a tree. It has leaves. Breanna

Sundew On the leaves, there are dots. It eats ants. The ants get stuck in the leaves. Desiree

Rubber Tree This tree grows tall. The rubber comes out into a cup and looks like milk. It lives in a rainforest. Saniyah

Fanged Pitcher Plant The Fanged pitcher plant eats bugs and is the size of a gallon. It has slippery stuff so the bugs fall in. It eats the bugs. The hood keeps the rain out. Monkeys rip it open and eat what’s inside. Lach

Pink Lady Slipper It captures bees and insects and eats them. When it rains, water goes down into the pouch and it drinks. To grow a pink lady slipper, you need seeds. If it grows in your garden, water it every single day. Sarah

Water Wheel Plant This plant catches sea creatures under the water. It looks like a real water wheel. It has scoops on it. It can fold all up and then come out again. Ryan

Bladderwort These grow in the water and they catch bugs and small fish in their bladders. They grow in alot of places. Josh

Rose Hips This rose bush has rose hips. Inside the rose hips are seeds. Janaziah

Rosary Pea This plant has posionous red berries. The berries are in a shell that is camoflaugued. It grows as a vine. Vann