Course Format: One 50-minute lecture and one 3-hour lab (MTWR).
Labs on Monday and Wednesday will usually involve fieldwork.

Requirements: One introductory biology course.

Course Description: Provides a broad, practical knowledge of the
diversity of flowering plants in our area.  Lectures discuss the
morphological characteristics of these plants, stressing features
useful in recognizing the families. The fieldwork adopts a plant
community approach to understanding the flora. Students will collect
specimens during field trips, analyze the structures of these plants
during lab, and use dichotomous keys to identify the plants to
species. The collected plants are preserved as dried herbarium. This
course is particularly practical for students of ecology and the
environmental science who wish to know the local flora for teachers
engaged in interpreting and teaching the local flora, and for those
who are simply interested in investigating the wild plant species
encountered in daily life.

Required text: “Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United
States and Adjacent Canada”, second edition, seventh printing or
higher, by Henry V. Gleason and Arthur Cronquist.

Weekly Assignments: Make a full set of properly identified and dried
herbarium specimens, and be able to recognize and identify these
species. Learn the progressively cumulative characteristics of the
plant families discussed and illustrated in lecture.

Exams/Papers: Three major lecture exams cover lecture/field notes
and assigned readings. Three major lab tests evaluate plant
identification skills. Cumulative recognition tests evaluate
students’ knowledge of previously identified plants.