Local Flora (BOT 3153) and Lab (BOT 3153L) Fall 2008

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University

Lecture Tuesdays in CBC 140 9:30 am - 12:15 pm

Lab Thursdays in OE 169 9:30 am - 12:15 pm

CE-6 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 help them become familiar with the 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 website.

    Lab:  one midterm exam (20%), one final exam (20%), quizzes (20%), family project (15%), plant collection (15%), and lab notebook (10%).

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

No make up exams.  No extra credit.

Required 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 not visible to the unaided eye.  Vendors are listed on the last page of this syllabus.

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 (if appropriate), your copy of Wunderlin and Hansen, 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. and B.F. Hansen.  2003.  A guide to the vascular plants of Florida.  2nd edition.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

ISBN:  0-8130-2632-6. [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 2008
Date	Topics	Readings
26 Aug T	How plants are put together I - Vegetative morphology	HH 1-136, Z 357-390
28 Aug R	Lab - Vegetative characteristics	HH 139-172
2 Sep T	How plants are put together II - Reproductive parts	Z 19-25
4 Sep R	Flowers and Fruit, cones, sporangia	HH 172-206
9 Sep T	How plants are put together III - Growing up - greenhouse tour	Z 12-18, 395-408
11 Sep R	Lab study of seeds, seedlings, young plants, comparisons with adults
16 Sep T	Nomenclature and History - Paper assignment
18 Sep R	A rose is a rose?  introduced plants, exotics, weeds, pest plants
23 Sep T	Classification, collecting, documentation - Library class 11 - 12:15	W Introduction; Z 1-11
25 Sep R	visit to Fairchild Herbarium
30 Sep T	Florida Plant Communities overview
2 Oct R	hardwood hammock - Castellow
7Oct T	Florida Plant Families I   - Paper Phase 1 due	Z 27-125
9 Oct R	wetlands - Shark Valley
14 Oct T	Florida Plant Families II	Z 125-270
16 Oct R	9:30 am Thurs Lab Midterm; 19 October Sat field trip to ENP
21 Oct T	Florida Plant Families III	Z 270 - 356
23 Oct R	pine rockland - Rockdale or Coral Reef
28 Oct T	Plant Families IV - Family Project assignment
30 Oct R	work on group family projects; 2 November Sunday field trip to Keys
4 Nov T	Rare, threatened, and endangered species
6 Nov R	8 November Saturday field trip to Jonathan Dickinson State Park
11 Nov T	Conservation issues - do plants have rights? - Paper Phase 2 due
13 Nov R	Matheson Hammock - mangroves and review
18 Nov T	Family Project Presentations
20 Nov R	Project Presentations
25 Nov T	study day
27 Nov R	Thanksgiving holiday
2 Dec T	Plants and the local economy - horticulture, nurseries, landscaping  - Final paper due
4 Dec R	Habitat restoration with native plants - Plant collection turned in
12 Dec T	Final Lecture Exam, final lab exam

Vendors for hand lenses:

http://www.compleatnaturalist.com/mall/vantage_doublets.htm

OP-002-054              Vantage 15mm Doublet                                 $9.95

OP-002-003              Coddington 10x Magnifier                           $26.00

OP-002-005              Hastings 10x Triplet Hand Lens                  $39.95 

http://www.benmeadows.com/search/hand+lens/20694/

103184                      Doublet 10X Loupe Magnifiers                     $8.10

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=5250

61280                         Bausch & Lomb Coddington 10x    $21.00

61494                         Coddington Type Double Lens Magnifier 10x                     $9.50

61240                         Bausch & Lomb Hastings Triplet Magnifier 10x    $34.00

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group - http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/

FTG Virtual Herbarium - http://www.virtualherbarium.org/

W3 Tropicos database [Information on published plant names - place of publication, author, etc.] - http://www.tropicos.org/

International Plant Names Index [An amalgamation of the Gray Index, Index Kewensis, and the Australian Plant Names Index] - http://www.ipni.org/

USDA GRIN [Genetic Resources Information Network] Taxonomy for Plants - http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/tax_search.pl