We asked you to tell us what interests you have in botany, and we got a very diverse group of answers back. Here is what you said you wanted to learn more about:
Gardening/Houseplants/Ornamentals..............22
While the focus of this course is wild plants, learning about plant families will help you, because wild and cultivated members of a family are similar in structure and often in preference for growing conditions. Monique has a degree in Floriculture, so you can ask her lots of questions...
A few gentlemen said they use flowers to get out of the doghouse with their girfriends. A *lot* of the ladies said they liked to receive flowers. Gents, are you listening?
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!!!
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.
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.
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:
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
Plant Collection--You might want to make a collection of just relatives of crop plants, or perhaps weed pests of crop plants.
In Lecture and Lab-Pay special attention to important crop plant families like grasses and legumes.
Web sites related to Agriculture and Farming
Future
Harvest--Sustainable and eco-Agriculture worldwide
Eating
Locally
We will definitely talk about ecology in this class
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
Dr. Wilson has included some information on medicinal plants in his lectures, and there is some in your text. In addition:
Books--We have The Savage Garden, which is just about the best carnivorous plant handboook out there. We can help you find others, if you like.In Lecture--Dr. Wilson will go over some families of carnivorous plants, including the Sarraceniaceae and Droseraceae. Watch for them when we get to the Dilleniidae.
In Lab--When we do the Dilleniidae, you'll have the opportunity to observe sundews, pitcher plants, and tropical pitcher plants. We will talk about how they get their food, and why they do.
In the Field/Plant Collection---You certainly may collect insectivorous plants, but please be conservation-minded. Many species are rare and some are threatened. Do not ever collect Venus fly-traps or Cobra Lilies (Darlingtonia) from the wild.
Carnivorous Plant Websites and Resources on Plant-Insect Relations
The Carnivorous Plant FAQ
California Carnivores, where our Nepenthes came from
International Carnivorous Plant Society
Flynn Bog--A virtual field trip that will show you some native carnivores
Pollination Biology
Know Your Insects
Butterflies and Their Larvae
Also, if you spend a lot of time hiking, camping, or otherwise
traipsing around in the underbrush, you will want to be able to recognize
Poison
Ivy, Stinging
Nettle, and Bull
Nettle.
You are going to learn so much general stuff and soooo much plant trivia this semester that you will be amazed. Have a look at Mabberley's The Plant Book--there is something fun on every page. Also try talking to Monique. She is a veritable fountain of bizarre and esoteric information... If we say something this semester that intrigues you, let us know. We'll be glad to steer you in a direction to find out what you need to know. Have a look at the other topics discussed here. You might also look into taking Botany 328--Plants and People, a course devoted to food, medicine, drug, dye, fiber, and fuel plants. In the meantime, there's a lot of general fun stuff at Wayne's World.
For specific information on plant growth, see the lecture
notes pages on Vegetative
Features.
Books-- We have some good references on useful plants. There's 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 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 Plant Crafts or Ethnobotany
Plants for a Future-- Database
Ethnobotanical Leaflets--an electronic journal
Ethnobotany--academic resources
Kew's Ethnobotanical Links
How to Preserve Leaves and Flowers with Glycerine
How to Dry Flowers--But do NOT do this for your plant collection!!!
Our Botany 328 Plants and People notes on Dyes and Fibers
Urban Eagle Natural Dyes
Flower Pounding--see some great results on this page
We won't be talking too much about cytogenetics this semester,
but we will talk about pollination, fertilization, embryo development,
and the like. We'll discuss the fundamental differences between ferns,
gymnosperms, and flowering plants, too. If you want to go further,
talk to your TA or Monique. We can point you to courses, books, and
articles that might be interesting to you.
Replant is a good idea. In this course, especially
on the Field
Trip, you will learn about species that make suitable replacements
for locally harvested trees.
Our very own Image
Gallery has some of the best plant images around. Many of them
were taken by Dr. James Manhart,
who is teaching a seminar on plant photography this semester. You
could contact him about sitting in.
Well, we certainly think so! For one thing, plants
don't fly or jump away when you try to collect them. They smell better
than bugs, too. We hope you discover more reasons to like plants this semester,
and don't just think of us as the lesser of two evils.
That may not be your dream job, but it might be interesting.
Check out our lab
on paper making and let us know if we missed anything.