Plant Systematics - Biology 436 and Plant Sciences 456 - Fall, 2008

Matt Lavin, Plant Bioscience Building room 308 (office) and 339 (lab), contact via email.

Lecture: Monday, 12:00-12:50 PM, Lewis Hall 407. Lab: Monday, 1:10-5:00 PM, Lewis Hall 407 and often at sites around Bozeman.

Office hours by appointment or Mondays 10:30AM-12N in Lewis Hall 407/408 (lab room and adjacent room).

Goals: To know upwards of 200 of the most common species in the regional flora, or this part of the northern Rocky Mountains. To gain and refine skills at identifying vascular plant species. To learn the characteristics of the common families and genera. To learn to use taxonomic keys by understanding plant morphology and associated terminology. To learn the broad ecological distinctions that often characterize a particular genus or family.

Schedule – the destination of each field trip and particular taxonomic groups we will study during that field trip are tentative and will be finalized the weekend before each class. A comprehensive list of species that we will potentially study will be updated as needed.

Sept. 8: introductory families and genera (indoor lab)

Sept. 15: families and genera common to riparian sites (Mathew Bird Creek near W Kagy Blvd and S Tracy Ave)

Sept. 22*: families and genera common to riparian sites (Mathew Bird Creek near S Tracy Ave and W Mason St)

Sept. 29*: families and genera common to riparian sites (riparian areas near the intersection of Graf St and Spring Meadows Dr)

Oct. 6*: families and genera common to riparian sites (riparian areas along the Linear Trail between the Garfield and South-Black to S Church Ave and E Story St)

Oct. 13*: genera of Rosaceae and related families typically of dry sites (field trip)

Oct. 20*: families and genera bearing catkins (field trip)

Oct. 27*: Artemisia, Apiaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Eleagnaceae (field trip)

Nov. 3*: indoor lab reviewing families with showy fused petals (field trip)

Nov. 10*: other common Montana plant families (field trip)

Nov. 17*: other common Montana plant families (field trip)

Nov. 24: other common Montana plant families

Dec. 1*: other common Montana plant families

Dec. 8: indoor identification test.

Dec. 18: 8:00-10:00AM: turn in plant collection by this time or earlier at Plant Bioscience Building (PBB) room 339 (Lavin’s lab)

Grades: A total of ten weekly plant identification tests (that dates of which are indicated with an asterisk in the above schedule) will be averaged and contribute to three-fourths of your grade in this course. These ten quizzes will involve mostly sight-identification with some specimens requiring the use of taxonomic keys. These weekly identification tests will occur mostly outdoors and will be time limited to two minutes per specimen (e.g., 15 plant specimens will have to be identified during a 30 minute walk). The remaining one-fourth of your grade will be derived from an indoor identification test using taxonomic keys and a dissection scope (Dec. 8). You will be able to use the Vascular Plants of Montana (Dorn) and your hand lens or a dissection scope (when indoors) during all tests. Your grade from the indoor identification test can be enhanced by turning in a good quality plant collection comprising the specimen handed out during this class (see an example of a useful reference specimen), or by building you own identification matrix (species as rows, identifying characters as columns) that you construct for all of the species studied during this course (such a matrix can be used to build an on-line interactive key).

Plant specimens: During this fall semester, you will identify over 30 families, 90 genera, and 160 species of flowering plants, all representative of the native and introduced flora of the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain region. For most of the species studied, I have collected specimens this past summer in flower or fruit, and have pressed and dried these so that they can become part of your plant reference collection, should you desire to make one. Color slides of the habit and close-ups of the flowers or fruits of most species will facilitate identification of these dried specimens. These photos are generally available on the web. Preparing reference specimens from these dried plants should be very useful for learning family, genus, and species characters. Keep in mind that a good quality reference collection is one that would be useful to a vegetation survey crew.

Texts: Required: Vascular Plants of Montana, by Robert D. Dorn. Recommended: Botany for Bloomin’ Idiots, by Barb Short.

Lab items. A hand lens is required for at least field identification. Forceps, needles, razor blades, or pocketknives are recommended for plant dissection during indoor labs. Tape or glue, and botanical paper are recommended for making reference specimens from the plant material that will be handed out in lab, as well as specimens taken during the field trips.

For lab each week, please bring a copy of the Vascular Plants of Montana (by Dorn) and a hand lens. You will need these two items to participate in field study and, importantly, to take the weekly tests.

Relevant web sites with plant photos and descriptions:

Plants National Database (USDA NRCS)

Montana Plant Life details many of the species from south-central Montana.

Texas A&M University has this web site where photos of plant families are search for alphabetically.

Simple line drawings that introduce some basic terminology used in angiosperm taxonomy: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Horticulture classes PS231 and PS232 have photos of campus indoor and outdoor plants, arranged by genus and family

Search Google images for plant species that you may want to become more familiar with (e.g., use genus and species name with or without a common name):

Sponsoring Departments: Ecology and Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology