Local Flora (BOT 3153) and Lab (BOT 3153L) Fall 2006

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University

Lecture Tuesdays in GL 149 9:30 am - 12:15 pm; Lab Thursdays in OE 169 9:30 am - 12:15 pm

Some fieldtrips on weekend days (see schedule)

Web-CT link

Course description:  an introduction to the common native, cultivated, ornamental, and exotic plant species in southern Florida.  We will focus on angiosperms, gymnosperms, and (to a lesser extent) pteridophytes.

Prerequisites:  one course in general biology or botany.

Objectives:  To familiarize students with plants, including how to tell one plant from another, and how to figure out names of plants using keys and other resources.  Students will work in the field and lab at FIU and other local sites.

Requirements:  Successful students will attend class with appropriate supplies, learn the botanical basics in the first few weeks of the course, then embark on a one-way journey to becoming a 'plant person'.  Skills will be tested with quizzes and exercises in class.  Students will write a research paper on a topic of their choice, as approved by the professor, after a library orientation, and using Turn-it-in.com.  The family project will be a group effort, with partners working together to prepare a presentation that will educate their classmates about the family in general, in Florida, and local representatives.

After completing this course, students will not only recognize an amazing number of local plants, but have the tools to figure out what almost any plant is wherever they may go.  But often, in botany, one course leads to another...

Grading:

    Lecture: one final exam (40%), one 8-10-page paper (40%) and in-class quizzes (20%).  Readings from textbooks (which will also be used for reference in the lab and field), and articles to be posted in our course Web-CT.

    Lab:  one midterm exam (25%), one final exam (25%), family project (30%), and quizzes (20%).

    A = 90 - 100%, B = 80 - 89%, C = 70 - 79%, D = 60 - 69%, F = < 60%.

No make up exams.  No extra credit.

Recommended supplies:

A hand lens (10X is probably better for most purposes than 14X) will be very handy, you can wear it around your neck so it is always ready for action, to see the small details of flowers and surfaces.  Students should carry a field notebook for taking notes while learning plants with the class, and pencil and/or pen for writing and sketching.  Index cards might be useful for reviewing families.

We will be in the field at least part of every day, lecture and lab!  Dress appropriately (wear field clothes and sturdy shoes).  Bring a hand lens or magnifying glass, sunscreen and insect repellent, hat, water, field notebook, species list, your copy of Wunderlin, and maybe the terminology book.

REQUIRED Textbooks:

1) Harris, J.G. and M.W. Harris.  2001.  Plant identification terminology:  an illustrated glossary.  2nd edition.  Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah. [HH]

2) Wunderlin, R.P. 2003.  Guide to the vascular plants of Florida.  2nd edition.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. [W]

3) Zomlefer, W. 1994.  Flowering plant families.  University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. [Z]

RECOMMENDED textbooks:

4) Hammer, R.L. 2002.  Everglades Wildflowers.  Falcon.  ISBN: 0762710896

5) Hammer, R.L. 2004.  Florida Keys Wildflowers.  Falcon.  ISBN:  0-7627-2569-9

6) Tomlinson, P.B.  1980.  Trees Native to Tropical Florida.

Alas, there is no one magic book with all the information we might desire for all the plants we will encounter.  There are many other useful books, as well as websites, to aid in plant identification, and there will be links to various resources in our course website.

see schedule next page

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	Schedule - Local Flora Fall 2006
Date	Topics	Readings
29 Aug T	How plants are put together I - Vegetative morphology	HH 1-136, Z 357-390
31 Aug R	Lab - Vegetative characteristics	HH 139-172
5 Sep T	How plants are put together II - Reproductive parts	Z 19-25
7 Sep R	Flowers and Fruit, cones, sporangia	HH 172-206
12 Sep T	How plants are put together III - Growing up - greenhouse tour	Z 12-18, 395-408
14 Sep R	Lab study of seeds, seedlings, young plants, comparisons with adults
19 Sep T	Nomenclature and History - Paper assignment
21 Sep R	A rose is a rose?  introduced plants, exotics, weeds, pest plants
26 Sep T	Classification, collecting, documentation	W Introduction; Z 1-11
28 Sep R	visit to Fairchild Herbarium
3 Oct T	Florida Plant Communities overview - Paper Phase 1 due
5 Oct R	hardwood hammock - Castellow
10 Oct T	Florida Plant Families I	Z 27-125
12 Oct R	pine rockland - Rockdale or Coral Reef
17 Oct T	Florida Plant Families II	Z 125-270
19 Oct R	wetlands - Shark Valley
24 Oct T	Florida Plant Families III	Z 270 - 356
26 Oct R	9:30 am Thurs Lab Midterm; 29 October Sunday field trip to Everglades National Park
31 Oct T	Plant Families IV - Family Project assignment
2 Nov R	5 November Sunday field trip to Keys
7 Nov T	Rare, threatened, and endangered species
9 Nov R	12 November Sunday at Jonathan Dickinson State Park (camp Friday and Saturday nights?)
14 Nov T	Conservation issues - do plants have rights? - Paper Phase 2 due
16 Nov R	Matheson Hammock - mangroves and review
21 Nov T	study day
23 Nov R	Thanksgiving holiday
28 Nov T	Plants and the local economy - horticulture, nurseries, landscaping - policy and prospects
30 Nov R	Habitat restoration with native plants
5 Dec T	Project Presentations
7 Dec R	Project Presentations  - Review - Final paper turned in
12 Dec T	Final Lecture Exam, final lab exam