BOTANY 301 - TAXONOMY OF FLOWERING PLANTS
Laboratory Schedule - Spring 1999

LOCATION: Rm. 004, Butler Hall (Next to HREF="http://www.tamu.edu/map/building/overview/HELD.html">Heldenfels Hall)

LAB COORDINATOR: Monique Dubrule Reed - Rm. 009, Butler Hall (845-8650)

TEACHING ASSISTANTS: Jeannie Skalsky--501 (M), 502(T), and 504 (TH)
John Janovec--503 (W)

TEXT: Walters D. R. and Keil, D. J. 1996. (4th edition) Vascular Plant Taxonomy (W&K). Lab Handouts and Lab Key, (packets 181 and 182) at Copy Corner, Redmond Terrace Mall near junction of George Bush Drive (1710) and Texas Ave.

MATERIALS: You are required to provide your own set of laboratory tools for floral dissections. A basic, minimum kit would include:

 
 
DATE TOPIC
ASSIGNMENT (W&K)
25 Jan Exercise in Key Construction - Herbarium Tour
3-8, 13-24, 50-55
1 Feb Using the Key - Vegetative Characters/Campus Walk
29-41, 67-77
8 Feb Using the Key - Reproductive Characters 
144-172
15 Feb Family studies - Magnoliidae/Hamamelidae
180-197, 375-392
22 Feb Family studies - Caryophyllidae
349-370
1 Mar LAB PRACTICAL I - FIELD TRIP
67-77
8 Mar Family studies - Dilleniidae
317-344
22 Mar Family studies - Rosidae (5 Collection specimens due)
203-231, 237-260
29 Mar FIELD TRIP  
5 Apr Family studies - Asteridae, Plant Description Exercise 
59-63, 265-94, 301-12
12 Apr Family studies - Liliopsida I 
401-428
19 Apr Family studies - Liliopsida II - Full collections due, as well as collection logs and plant presses
401-428
26 Apr LAB PRACTICAL II* - Lab notebooks due  

Please make every effort to attend your assigned lab section.  If you must miss a lab, please contact Monique Reed, your Teaching Assistant, and the Teaching Assistant whose section you will attend to make up the lab, preferably BEFORE you miss it. No make-ups on missed graded work without a University approved excuse (illness, death, University approved activity.)

PLANT COLLECTION: 25 complete specimens of 25 different species of flowering plants.  These must represent 15 angiosperm families. All material must be collected this semester for this course.  No specimens from cultivation. Five specimens will be due during your lab during the week of 22 Mar but we encourage you to turn these in earlier. These will be graded and returned so you can check your progress.  These will be corrected and resubmitted with the other 20 specimens.  The final collection (all 25 plants) is due at your lab period during the week of 19 Apr. Plant presses will be issued in lab during the week of 1 Feb. (see Lab Handouts, p. 10)

KEY QUIZZES: Short Quizzes will be given during most lab periods, testing your ability to key out any unknown plant using your lab-manual key or one that we will give you. While you cannot study for these, keeping up with the lab, working with your collections, and learning to recognize plant families will help you do well. We will take thea best 10.

LAB QUIZZES: During selected lab periods, there will be short quizzes over the material to be covered that day and the material presented in the previous lab. We will take the best 5.
 
 

GRADING:  Lab Practical I    50 
  Lab Practical II    50 
  Key quizzes  100 
  Plant Collection  150 
  Plant Description   25 
  Lab Quizzes   50 
 
 Total: 
 425 
 

NOTES:

Always bring all text materials (W & K, Lab Handouts, Lab Key) to lab. This includes lab practicals and field trips. The hand lens is a necessity for the field trips.

Readings are assigned to complement the lab exercises. We strongly encourage you to look this material over BEFORE you come to lab. While we will not cover every family that is in the book, checking to see waht the textbook has to say about the families we will be covering in lab will gtive you a big advantage. We have not assigned the study questions as reading, but the ones that pertain to the families we cover would be useful.

Room 004 will be closed while not in use. However, we want you to have as much access to it as possible, so if you need to get in, just find Monique (rm. 009) and she will be glad to unlock the door for you. There will be no access to room 004 during the lab practical weeks. Instead, a review will be set up elsewhere.

BE PREPARED for field trips. Wear sturdy shoes or boots and long pants; be aware of the sun, the weather, insects, and snakes. A little caution and planning can make the field trips one of the best parts of the course.

KEEP IN MIND: We will be stressing your ability to use a taxonomic key and to identify important families and genera on sight. We assume no prior experience and we EXPECT some problems at the beginning of the semester. Keep up with the labs and make good use of our facilities, materials, and expertise to develop your knowledge and skills.

Plant presses must be returned at the time plant collections are due. Failure to return a press results in a grade of 'Incomplete' and the blocking of fees and registration for the following semester. Grades are restored and blocks removed when the press is returned.

If you have any problems or questions related to the course or lab, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Manhart, Monique Reed, or your TA.
 
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Last updated Jan. 13, 1999 by MDR