Books--We have two books specifically about wildlife habitats, the Eastern and Western volumes of Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats by Benyus. Try Imes' The Practical Botanist for an overview of plants in the environment and different types of habitats. In addition, many of the keys and manuals have notes about each plant's usefulness to wildlife. For example, Elias' The Complete Trees of North America goes into great detail, Correll & Johnston's Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas often has info, and Monique's black key also includes wildlife food uses. In addition, we have several general books on ecology and plant habitats.

In the Field--Pay attention to what animals eat and where they live. Collect and identify samples of plants that they use. Visit and study the habitats and ecosystems that interest you most. Be curious. Take notes, draw, collect, take photos. You may want to look into Outdoor Rec trips or go somewhere neat to collect. Whenever possible, go out in the field with someone who knows the environment and ask lots of questions.

Plant Collection--You might want to make your collection from just a few locations that represent ecosystems you want to know more about. Conversely, you might want to make it as broadly-based as possible. Either way, look at what's around you when you're out collecting. If you are interested in wildlife, you can try 1) collecting plants that you know are used by wildlife and 2) reading to determine if other plants you collect have uses you didn't know about.

In Lab and Lecture--Listen. Little bits about animal ecology find their way into lecture. On field trips, we'll talk a lot about important different plant communities and ecosystems. Learn about the major families and what their presence tells you about a habitat or community. When we go on field trips, we will mention some plants that animals eat (such as grapes, acorns, hawthorn fruits, etc.), and we will talk about what animals can be found locally. Ask questions!

Websites Related To Wildlife:
NC State's Habitat Improvement Site (lots of good info!)
Herps of Texas
Birds of Texas--with lots of links
Texas Parks and Wildlife--many links, including abstracts from symposia
Invasive Species
Fun page of Animal Sounds on the Web
See what's going on with Conservation in Britain  (the U.K. faces some of the same issues we do)

Everyone likes to get flowers.

In Lecture and Lab--We really won't talk too much about cut flowers and floral arrangements in this course, but we will go over major plant families that common florist's flowers come from--Caryophyllaceae, Rosaceae, etc.  If you keep your eyes open, you will learn about your favorites.

In the Field--Look for plants that have cut-flower potential.  Wouldn't some of the native grasses be nice?  In the fall, look for the ornamental berries of holly, snail-seed, and beauty-berry.

Plant Collection--You could collect only things you think would make good arrangements.  One for the press, one to key from, one for the vase!

Websites Related to Cut Flowers (no endorsements implied)
  Calyx and Corolla
  How to Make Cut Flowers Last
  How to Preserve Leaves and Flowers with Glycerine
  How to Dry Flowers--But do NOT do this for your plant collection!!!

   Books--We have two good sets of books on aquatic and wetland plants (including coastal)--one set for the Southeast, and one
     for the Southwest. Both have good illustrations. We also have the Flora of the TX Coastal Bend and Plants of Southernmost
     TX, both of which are useful. Correll and Johnston does cover the coast. We have books on tidal marsh plants. We have
     access to some government publications, too. The botany staff has done a lot of bog-trotting in the last couple of years, so we
     can be of more help with wetland plants now than ever.  We have two books specifically about wildlife habitats, the Eastern
     and Western volumes of Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats by Benyus.

     In the Field/Plant Collection--You are welcome to collect aquatic angiosperms. Be aware of two things, however. 1--There
     are cultivated plants that occasionally escape along the coast or into waterways--these may not be keyable. 2--In damp
     environments, things take longer to dry. There are special techniques for collecting floating plants--ask Monique to show you.

     In Lecture/Lab--Keep an eye out for families which have aquatic members or which are salt-tolerant or otherwise adapted to
     aquatic or marine life.

     Aquatic and Marine Plant Web Sites

Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants--from Florida (really good; links to a gopher search engine)
Pete's Pond Page
Aquatic Gardeners Association
The Carnivorous Plant FAQ, because many carnivores are bog plants
An A&M course in Wetland Plants, offered by the Range Department
A Directory of Aquarium Club Resources in Texas
Cultivation of Marine Plants
Mangroves for Terraria/Aquaria--someone mentioned they had planted one.  Scroll to near the bottom of the page
More Mangroves
Marine Plants and Algae
Restoring American Estuaries
Live from the Estuary

We like trees, too. In fact, one of the teaching staff (we won't say who) wanted to be a tree when s/he was little because, "trees are nicer than people."

Books--Meetings with Remarkable Trees is a look at large, memorable trees.  Common Reader has several other good books on the subject.  The August 1997 issue of Smithsonian had a great article on treehouses.  We do have several illustrated guides to the trees of North America, including the out-of-print Complete Trees of North America by Elias, which includes good info on wood properties and uses.  We have an atlas of tree species, which shows range information for important hardwoods and gymnosperms.  Then there's the Woody Plant Seed Manual, full of seed yield, germination, and production figures for a number of species.

In Lecture and Lab--You will meet a lot of trees in the class, learn about their families, their uses, and their ecology.  On the Field Trip, you will get to see the local post oak savannah and woods in several stages of succession.

Plant Collection–You may certainly collect trees.  Just remember that handbooks and field guides are *not* keys and should not be used for full identification.  Also, this is not a leaf collection as you may have made in high school or for a dendro course.  Twig and flower or fruit are necessary.

Our favorite tree links
The Tree Circus--You have to see this to believe it! Site is maintained by an arborist.  Trees now grow in Bonfante
         Gardens
Tree Register of the British Isles--some truly memorable trees
The Champion Tree Project
National Big Tree Register
American Trees--including links to Global Releaf, Forest Policy, Urban Forestry, Climate Change Calculator, etc.
Big Trees of Texas--requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader (download here)
Native Texas Trees
American Society of Consulting Arborists
Tree Climbers International
Plant  Amnesty--dedicated to educating people about how *not* to prune

Books-- We have some good references on useful and cultivated plants.  Kindscher's Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie and Medicinal Plants of the Prairie have information on how Native Americans used plants.  We also have the monumental Native American Ethnobotany and volume 1 of The Useful Wild Plants of Texas (etc.).  Then there is the great work World Economic Plants.  We can also dig up works on fiber plants, weaving, and dyeing for you.

In Lecture--Dr. Wilson knows a lot about ethnobotany.  He has done a lot of research on Chenopod and Cucurbit crops of the Americas.  He will also talk about wheat and other crop plants.

In the Field--Really examine the plants you see.  Which could be used for fiber? Basketry? Shelter? Dyes?  Useful plants are all around you.

Plant Collection--You could focus your collection on potentially useful plants, test all of your samples to see if they make good dyeplants, or research any useful properties of whatever you find.

Web sites related to Ethnobotany
        Mexican Folk Remedies
        Plants for a Future-- Database
        Ethnobotanical Leaflets--an electronic journal
        Ethnobotany--academic resources
        Kew's Ethnobotanical Links

TAXONOMY/IDENTIFICATION/KEYING

Boy, are you in luck! This is the main thing we deal with--What is that plant? How can I tell it from all the others? Where else does it grow? The whole lab and lecture are geared toward giving an understanding of the major families and their distinguishing features. Just by staying awake in class, you should learn plenty. We will also talk about the origins and distributions of plants--which ones are cosmopolitan, which strictly New World, which Old World, etc.

Books--We have manuals and floras that cover the whole state and many parts of the U.S. These will help you identify plants.  We also have picture books which will give you an idea of what's out there in a non-scientific way. If it's classical taxonomy and learning how to identify plants you want, we have good books on those, too. Just tell Monique what you want, and she can steer you in the right direction.

In the Field--Practice sight-identification of major families and genera. Quiz yourself and your friends. Try to botanize in as many different places as possible. Make notes, take pictures, draw. Bring back unknowns to identify.

Plant Collection--You can either collect the unknown plants you want to identify or put together a collection of plants that you have learned to identify. Either way, the more you collect and key, the better you will be at keying. Eventually, you will develop a feel for plants that helps as much as technical knowledge.

In Lab --Really study and learn the key characters for families and genera. Practice with keys. Work on getting that "feel" for  what's what. Make good use of the lab space and books available.

Taxonomy-related Web sites:

Our own Classification Information Matrix--Links to family information, descriptions, images, etc.
Image Gallery--Images of the local flora.
An Interactive Web-based Key--Try out an example of how interactive programs make keys easy and maybe even fun.
Missouri Botanical Garden's TROPICOS database to learn where a name was published.
American Society of Plant Taxonomists
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group paper--this is the one turning everything on its ear. (Compare with Cronquist, etc. in your course text.)

Books--One of the best for edible natives of Texas is Tull's A Practical Guide to Edible and Useful Plants. She has also published Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest: A Practical Guide, which we don't yet have but which is readily available. We do have Kindscher's Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie and the Medves' Edible Wild Plants of Pennsylvania. We have Native American Ethnobotany, World Economic Plants, and the huge two-volume Cambridge World History of Food.  In addition, many keys and manuals have information about edibility listed for each plant. You may also want to look at the AMA Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants to learn what not to eat.  We can also recommend lots of good vegetarian (and other) cookbooks.

In the Field--Be on the lookout for edible plants. Please eat only what you KNOW is safe and can positively identify. Don't try too many new things at once. If something is rare, don't harvest too much. Keep notes!!!

Plant Collection--It would be a challenge to make a collection of only edible plants, but it could be done and probably would be fun. Or, you might want to concentrate on learning if any of the plants you collect are edible.  You could also focus on wild relatives of domesticated edible plants you like.

In Lecture and Lab--In lecture, much will be made of the major food families. On the lab field trips, we will look at (and try!) some of the local wild edibles. Ask lots of questions--and get Monique's Rumex soup recipe...

Other Links, including such odd things as peppers and trail mix... (no endorsements implied)
 
Paul's Elderberry Page
Plants for a Future Database  (try the U.S. mirror if the Australian one is slow)
Tropical Fruits--lots of interesting images
Shepherd's Seeds--many interesting vegetables to grow
Botany 328, Plants and People
Chili Peppers--a gallery and descriptions of all kinds
Cooseman's Specialty Produce--things you won't find in your ordinary garden
Linda's Cooking with herbs
A Cook's Thesaurus--great information on all sorts of food plants

We won't be talking too much about turf this semester, but we will talk about the Poaceae, the family to which all grasses belong.  Grasses, as monocots, have some special growth characteristics, and we'll point these out, too.  The person who said they were interested in mowing lawns is welcome to go over and do Monique's.

Turfgrass Links
     Texas Turfgrass Association
     Turfgrass Info from the Texas Extension Service
     Turf at A&M
     Weed Alert--mostly for turf and garden weeds.  You can win a mousepad!
      Lots and Lots and Lots of Turf Links

RANGELAND ECOLOGY/GRASSES/ LIVESTOCK

Books--We have North American Range Plants, a good guide to some of the more important plants. Some of the keys, such as the Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas and Grasses of Texas have information about livestock uses for each plant. One of our weed books goes into detail about which plants are harmful or useful for stock and which plants will take over and ruin a good pasture or cropland.  Come by the herbarium to read a good Smithsonian article on intensive farming. We also have an interesting book on the lost or little-grown grain crops of Africa, many of which would be suitable for Texas.
 
In the Field--Watch what stock eat, and what they avoid. Make notes, draw, take pictures. Practice sight-identifying important range plant families such as grasses and legumes. Observe crop-weed interactions in fields.  Bring unknowns back to the lab to key them.

Plant Collection--You might want to make a collection of just range plants--useful or harmful. You could focus on wild relatives of cultivated crop plants such as cotton, alfalfa, or sorghum. Collect plants that interest you.

In Lecture and Lab-Pay special attention to important grazing and crop plant families like grasses and legumes. On the field trip, we will see and talk about what happens to overgrazed pastures and how ungrazed pastures go back to prairie and forest.

Web sites related to Livestock and Range Plants

TAMU Range Science homepage
Virtual Library of Livestock Information from Oklahoma State
The USDA's web-page, portal to lots of agricultural information
Images of Texas Grasses
Agrostology at Texas A&M
Issues in Food Production--index to many articles on economics, water use, organic crops, etc.
Sustainable Farming and Ranching