Plant Trivia
 Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and
shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to
the neotropics. The species Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni,
commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf,
or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves.
As a sugar substitute, stevia's taste has a slower onset
and longer duration than that of sugar, although some
of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like
aftertaste at high concentrations.
 With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness
of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in
demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar, thus low
calorie food alternatives.
Plant Families
Poaceae
Liliaceae
Orchidaceae
Monocots and dicots
 The flowering plants (angiosperms) have
for many years been divided into two
main categories of plants, the monocots
and the dicots.
Monocotyledons
 In general, monocots can be recognized by
their parallel-veined leaves and three-part
flowers. Their roots have disorganized vascular
bundles, and if they are treelike (yuccas, aloes,
dracaenas) their wood is unusually structured.
Among the important monocots are grasses
(including corn, rice, and wheat), lilies, orchids,
palms, and sedges.
Dicotyledons
 Dicotyledons have two seedling leaves
as opposed to the single one in most
monocotyledons.
Recent Developments
 Several deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
sequence studies subsequently
demonstrated that there are still two
groups of angiosperms, but these
correspond not to the number of seed
leaves but to two major pollen types.
Two Pollen Types
 Pollen with a single aperture
 Pollen with three (and often more)
apertures
Monocotyledons
 Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) studies of
the monocot group of flowering plants
(angiosperms with one seed leaf,) have
revealed that, although monocots do
constitute a group of closely related
families, they are also closely related and
now grouped into a classification called
magnoliids, with which they share a
pollen type with a single aperture.
Magnoliids
 In addition to the monocotyledons,
Magnoliids also include a group of former
dicotyledons, which have pollen with a
single aperture, including magnolia,
avocado, black pepper, and pipeworts.
Dicotyledons
 The term “dicotyledon” is no longer as
meaningful because some plants of this
type are more closely related to
monocotyledons and are now grouped
with the monocots in the classification
Magnoliids.
Thus
 The group of former dicotyledons which have
pollen with a single aperture, are more closely
related to the monocots and are now classified
along with monocots as Magnoliids.
 The other group of former dicotyledons, those
with three (and often more) apertures in their
pollen, are called eudicotyledons (true
dicotyledons). The eudicots are much more
distantly related to the monocots.
Magnoliids and Eudicots
 Magnoliids include some plants which
have two seedling leaves and all of the
monocots (one seedling leaf). Pollen of
Magnoliids has one single apperture.
 Eudicots (aka ‘true’ dicots) have pollen
with three (or more) appertures. All
eudicots have two seedling leaves.
Poaceae
 Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the
angiosperms (flowering plants). Plants of
this family are usually called grasses.
There are about 650 genera and 9700
species of grasses making it one of the
largest plant families.
Poaceae
 Herbs, often rhizomatous, but trees in
tropical bamboos. Cosmopolitan in
distribution, from deserts to freshwater
and marine habitats. Grasses (and
grasslands) account for about 24% of the
world’s vegetation. This family is the most
important of all plant families to human
economies
Poaceae
 The economic importance of grasses lies
in their paramount role as food.
According to our text, 70% of the world’s
farmland is planted in crop grasses such
as corn, wheat, and barley, and over 50%
of human’s calorie intake comes from
grasses.
Poaceae

Grasses are also used for livestock food,
animal grazing, erosion control, turf
production and sugar production.
Bamboos are economically important in
many tropical areas for their edible young
shoots, fiber for paper, pulp for rayon,
and strong stems for construction.
Poaceae
 Poaceae ranks behind Asteraceae,
Orchidaceae, and Fabaceae in number
of species but ranks first in global
economic importance.
 Poaceae is unsurpassed among
angiosperms in land surface area
dominated.
Poaceae
 Dorn 1984 lists approximately sixty
genera of Poaceae occurring in Montana.
Famous Grasslands
 The North American prairie and plains
 The South American pampas
 The African veldt
 The Eurasian steppes
North American Prairie
and Plains
 The term prairie derives from the French
and was the word French trappers and
explorers gave to the sea of grass they
encountered in the center of North
America. As a vegetation type, the prairie
is divided into three formations:
 Tall-grass, mid-grass, and short-grass
systems
North American Praire
Grasslands
Red – tall grass
Orange – mid grass
Dark Grey – short grass
Tall-grass Prairie
 The easternmost section of the North American
grasslands, the tall grass prairie extends into
regions of humid climate, both continental and
subtropical. These humid grasslands represent
a fire or fire and grazing subclimax. With the
extermination of the bison and the suppression
of prairie fires in the late 1800s, that part of the
prairie that had not been put under the plow
reverted to oak-hickory forest in the US and to
aspen woodland in the north, in Canada. Today
prairie preserves are managed with controlled
burns.
Controlled Burning
Controlled Burning
Green Up
Tall-grass Prairie
 The tall grass prairie gets its name from the
upright bluestems (Andropogon spp.) that
reach heights of 6 feet or more by late summer.
Their roots may extend to depths of 9 feet or
more, binding the soil and enriching it with
organic matter as roots die back at the end of
the growing season. The above-ground parts
of the plants also die down in winter and are
converted to abundant humus when bacterial
action begins in the spring.
Andropogon scoparius
Family: Poaceae
syn
Schizachyrium scoparium
Litlle bluestem
Andropogon gerardii
Family: Poaceae
Big bluestem aka turkeyfoot
Tall-grass Prairie
 Three herb layers are apparent in the tall
grass prairie, each characterized by
relatively high species diversity. Both
sod-forming and bunch grasses are
present. Perennial forbs are abundant
and varied; different species bloom at
different times during the growing season
contributing to an ever-changing palette
of colors.
Nature’s Flower Garden
Tall-grass Prairie
 Bluestems comprise the uppermost herb layer.
Other, shorter upright grasses and forbs form
an intermediate layer. Recumbent species
such as the grama grasses (Bouteloua spp.)
make up the lowest, ground-hugging layer. It is
this formation that is associated with the
darkest of the mollisols, the chernozems. Much
of it today has been converted to corn
production.
Mid-grass Prairie
 The mid-grass (aka mixed) prairie is centrally
positioned between the tall grass and short
grass prairies; the mixed prairie is
intermediate. It has two layers of grasses and,
one reaching about 12 inches above the
ground surface, the other, more open, about 48
inches. Both bunch and sod-forming grasses
are present, as well as many forbs. Roots
extend to depths of about 5 feet. The soils are
dark brown, but lighter than chernozem of the
tall-grass prairie.
Short-grass Prairie
 Short-grass prairie (aka Steppe) is the
westernmost and driest part of the North
American grasslands. The short grass prairie
occupies regions with 10 to 12 inches of
precipitation a year primarily in the rain shadow
of the Rocky Mountains and includes the high
plains of Montana. A single herb layer exists
and consists primarily of bunch grasses some
12 to 18 inches high. They have relatively
shallow root systems.
Short-grass Prairie
 Soils are lighter brown than those under the
mid and tall grass prairies and the calcium
carbonate layer is closer to the surface. These
grasslands are used today as rangeland for
cattle. Due to excellent game management
practices some states like Montana and
Wyoming with short grass prairie still have
large populations of pronghorn, elk, deer, and
in some instances, bison.
Flint Hills and Konza
Prairie of Kansas
Research Opportunities
Bison bison
A tautonym
Liliaceae
 The Liliaceae are monocotyledons, that
is, they have only one seed leaf. Being
monocots, they are now classified into
the Magnoliid group and have pollen with
a single apperture.
Liliaceae
 Members of this Family usually have:
 Bulbs or other storage organs
 Long, thin leaves
 Six petals or tepals
 Six stamens
 Superior ovary
Liliaceae
 Many groups of plants once in the Family Liliaceae
have now been given their own Family status BUT
taxonomic disagreements seem to be widespread in
the literature. These include Alliaceae,
Alstroemeriaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae,
Asphodelaceae, Aspidistraceae, Calochortaceae,
Colchicaceae, Convallariaceae, Fritillariaceae,
Hemerocallidaceae, Hyacinthaceae, Trilliaceae, and
Zephyranthaceae. Some of these families may or may
not exist at the present time.
Liliaceae
 Even before these changes, it was difficult to know
whether a plant belonged to the Lily Family, the Iris
Family, or the Amaryllis Family. Here are some points
of difference which might help:
 Liliaceae - 6 stamens, superior ovary (inside the
flower)
Iridaceae - 3 stamens, inferior ovary (behind the
flower)
Amaryllidaceae - 6 stamens, inferior ovary (behind the
flower)
Liliaceae
 Before being divided, this was one of the
largest plant families, but now contains
16 genera and 635 species. Widely
distributed, mainly in the temperate
regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Most are spring-blooming perennial
plants of prairies and mountain
meadows.
Liliaceae
Tulips
Lily
Fritillaria pudica
Family: Liliaceae or Fritillaceae???
Yellow fritillary of Montana
Liliaceae
 Dorn 1984 lists 23 genera of the family
occurring in Montana, but his groupings
are in conflict with other information on
families.
Lilium philadelphicum L.
Family: Liliaceae
Wood lily of Montana
Orchidaceae
 Orchidaceae (or Orchid family) is the second
largest family of the flowering plants. Its name
is derived from the genus Orchis.
 Our text lists 788 genera and 19,500 species,
but the exact number is unknown (perhaps as
many as 25,000 because of taxonomic
disputes. The number of orchid species equals
about four times the number of mammal
species, and more than twice the number of
bird species. It also encompasses about 6–
11% of all seed plants.
Orchidaceae
 The many different genera of orchids, and the
thousands of species throughout the family
hybridize quite easily with each other.
Therefore, horticulturists and hobbyists have
created thousands of cultivars of various
names.
 Two fictional books worth reading on orchid
passion are:
 The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean 2000
 The Gentle Kingdom of Giacomo by Evelyn
Wells 1953
Orchidaceae
 Widely distributed,
the family is most
diverse in tropical
regions where it is
frequently epiphytic
(lives above ground
in trees).
Orchidaceae
 Terrestrial or epiphytic herbs, or
occasionally vines, with rhizomes, corms,
or root-tubers.
 Vanilla flavoring is extracted from the
fruits of Vanilla planiflolia.
 Many orchids are collected and
intensively hybridized as ornamentals for
gardeners and hobbyists around the
world.
Orchidaceae
 Orchidaceae are well known for the many
structural variations in their flowers.
 Some orchids have single flowers but most
have a racemose inflorescence, sometimes
with a large number of flowers. The flowering
stem can be basal, that is produced from the
base of the tuber, like in Cymbidium, apical,
meaning it grows from the apex of the main
stem, like in Cattleya, or axillary, from the leaf
axil, as in Vanda.
Basal inflorescence
Phalaenopsis x
Cymbidium x
Apical inflorescence
Cattleya x
Dendrobium x
Axillary inflorescence
Vanda x
Mark’s Orchid
Phalaenopsis x “Costco Special”
Mark’s Orchid
Dwayne’s Orchid
Oncidium x ‘Sharry Baby’
Dwayne’s Orchid
Indoor Cultivation of
Orchids
 Some orchids require cool greenhouses,
some which actually have to be kept
quite chilly both day and night.
 Some orchids thrive in standard indoor
house temperatures; cool at night,
warmer during the day.
 Some orchids need to have very warm
temperatures both day and night.
Jewel Orchids
 Jewel orchids are so called because of their
extraordinarily beautiful foliage which comes in a
variety of colors. They are not a specific genus of
orchids, but rather a grouping based on their intriguing
leaf coloration. The leaves are often velvety which
increases the visual effect of the colors and sometimes
provides a different coloration when viewed from
different angles. Most are terrestrial or ground growing
plants. The various species are found around the
world, some even in the northern US where they are
known as "Rattlesnake Plantain." Most species are
native to India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Malaysia, and
Indonesia.
Jewel Orchid Foliage
Orchidaceae
 Dorn 1984 lists nine genera in Montana
with 28 total species:
 Calypso (1), Corallorhiza (5),
Cypripedium (4), Epipactis (2), Goodyera
(2), Habenaria (8), Listera (4), Orchis (1),
Spiranthes (1)
Calypso bulbosa
Family: Orchidaceae
Fairy slipper of conifer forests of Montana
Corallorhiza striata Lindl.
Family: Orchidaceae
Coral root orchid of Montana woodlands
Cypripedium calceolus L.
Family: Orchidaceae
Lady Slipper of bogs and damp woods
of Montana.
Epipactis gigantea
Family: Orchidaceae
Stream orchid of wet areas
in Montana.
Goodyera repens
Family: Orchidaceae
Jewel orchid example (foliage)
Lesser rattlesnake plantain of Flathead Lake area
Habenaria elegans
Family: Orchidaceae
Bog orchid of Montana woods
Listera borealis Morong
Family: Orchidaceae
Twayblade of Montana
woods.
Orchis rotundifolia
Family: Orchidaceae
Spotted orchid of northern Montana
woods.
Spiranthes romanzoffiana
Family: Orchidaceae
Ladies’ tresses of moist areas in
Montana
It is great work to make things beautiful, and after your work is done,
perhaps the thing you have made is too weak to stand alone.
- Giacomo Daneri -