FIRST CLASS SCOUT

COLLECTING EVIDENCE OF NATIVE PLANTS

Trees are the largest and the oldest living things on Earth. Over a thousand species grow in the United States, each one different from all others. Some thrive in sunlight, others in shade. A few require fire in order to reproduce. Certain trees grow very fast while others, especially those living hundreds of years, gain their height and mass very slowly. The two large groups of American trees are conifer trees and broadleaved trees. Also known as evergreens, conifers bear cones and have needlelike or scalelike leaves that usually stay on the trees for several years. Broad-leaved trees have flat leaves that generally fall off in the autumn. (For more information on trees, see the BSA's Fieldbook No. 33104.)