Course Number and Title: Biology 354/554 Field Botany

Description of Action: Continuation of an inactive course

Sponsor(s): Stephen Solheim, Neil Sawyer

Department(s): Biological Sciences

College(s): Letters & Sciences

Effective Term: Summer 2002

 

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Proposal: Biology 630-354/554 Field Botany

Normally taught at the Pigeon Lake Field Station, this course has not been held for several years because of scheduling difficulties. We expect to resume offering this course in at least alternate years.
 
 

COURSE OUTLINE:

Course Learning Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

-- use keys and related material to identify herbaceous plants in flowering condition and woody plants and pteridophytes with or without reproductive features

-- prepare herbarium specimens of vascular plants using appropriate collection and labelling techniques
 

Topic Outline: Because virtually the entire course is taught in the field, the sequence and precise nature of topics depends on the place and dates that the course is taught. The sequence below is typical for the workshops that have been taught at Pigeon Lake in June.

Introduction; use of keys

Northern dry-mesic forests

Northern mesic forests

Sedge meadows

Alder thickets

Northern dry forests

Bog

Bog-fen complexes

Northern wet forests

Bracken-grassland

Northern wet-mesic forests

Collecting techniques

Collecting trip I

Collecting trip II

Shaded cliffs

Anthropogenic communities

Marshes
 

Methods for Evaluating Students:

Students will be graded on their performance on two field exams (the second one cumulative) and a collection of one hundred plant specimens.
 

Proposed Texts:

Courteney, B. and J. Zimmerman. 1992. Wildflowers and Weeds. Prentice-Hall, NY.

Fassett, N. 1976. Spring Flora of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.

Handouts will also be given.
 

Differences between graduate and undergraduate requirements: Graduate students will be expected to take the same exams and make the same collection as undergraduates. In addition, graduate students will write a report on the vegetation and/or flora of an appropriate field site.
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

*Cochrane, T.S. and H.H. Iltis. 2000. Atlas of the Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Flora. Technical Bulletin 191. DNR, Madison, Wisconsin.

*Crow, G.E. and C.B. Hellquist. 2000. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Northeastern North America. 2 vols. Univ. of Wisconsin Press, Madison.

*Fernald, M.L. 1950. Gray's Manual of Botany. 8th ed. American Book Co., NY.

*Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 1993-2001. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York.

*Gleason, H.A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY.

*Holmgren, N.H. 1998. Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist's Manual. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY.

*Lellinger, D.B. 1985. A Field Manual of the Ferns and Fern Allies of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press,, Washington, D.C.

*Mohlenbrock, R.H. 1967-2001. The Illustrated Flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois Univ. Press, Carbondale, IL.

*Mohlenbrock, R.H. and D.M. Ladd. 1978. Distribution of Illinois Vascular Plants. Southern Illinois Univ. Press, Carbondale, IL.

*Ownbey, G.B. and T. Morley. 1991. Checklist and Atlas of the Flora of Minnesota. Univ. Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.

*Scoggan, H.J. 1978-1979. The Flora of Canada.
 

Vol. 1: Introduction

Vol. 2: Monocots

Vols. 3 and 4: Dicots

National Museums of Canada, Quebec.

*Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region. 4th ed. The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL.

*Voss, E.G. 1972-1976. Michigan Flora. Cranbrook Institute, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

*[various authors]. 1929 to date. Preliminary reports on the flora of Wisconsin. Trans. Wisc. Acad. Sci. Arts Letters. (This series consists of separate papers on Wisconsin's flora by family, with each species mapped. See Fassett 1976 for an index.)

*Wetter, M.A. et al. 2001. Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Wisconsin. Technical Bulletin 192. DNR, Madison, Wisconsin.