Spring 2015
BIOLOGY 377: FIELD BOTANY
Lecture and Lab: 12:30 – 4:30 HA 235
Instructor: Betsy Kirkpatrick
TH 223G
X3797
email: kirkpatrick@pugetsound.edu
Office Hours: Mon 10-11:30 and Tues 11-12. You are welcome any time I’m in my office, but to be sure to
find me, make an appointment via email.
Course Texts and Supplies
Required:
Hitchcock, L. and A. Cronquist. 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press.
Judd, W.S., C.S. Campbell, E.A. Kellogg, P.F. Stevens, and M.J. Donoghue. 2007. Plant Systematics: A
Phylogenetic Approach, 3rd ed. Sinauer Assoc.
Notebook of “Rite in the Rain” paper – available at the bookstore
Recommended:
A hand lens of 10X or higher magnification – we can order these as a group the first week
Pojar, J. and A. MacKinnon. 2007. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Lone Pine Publishing.
Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. Mayfield Publ. Co.
Harris, J. and M. Harris. 2001. Plant Identification Terminology, 2nd ed. Spring Lake Publishing.
Course overview
This course is designed to introduce you to identifying plants, help you become familiar with the local plants,
understand their systematic relationships, and understand their natural history as part of communities. As
such, it is intended to be a hybrid between a plant systematics course, a plant identification course, and a plant
natural history/ecology course. The lecture will cover concepts and theory; the lab will be devoted to hands-on
identification and species recognition. Field trips will allow you to practice family and species recognition as
well as to see some of the natural history we've discussed in lecture.
Course objectives
At the end of the course, you should:
• recognize approximately 225 species in our local flora
• recognize most of the plant families in the local flora
• be able to identify unknown plants to species using a comprehensive key (Hitchcock and Cronquist)
• recognize many of the natural history traits that underlie plant species' distributions
• recognize the principles and ambiguities underlying plant classification
• understand the broad evolutionary trends among vascular plants
Course content and schedule
The lectures will cover two main areas: (1) plant ecology and natural history (characteristics of plant groups
that influence their success in particular environments) and (2) plant evolution (plant morphology, vascular
plant evolutionary history, and an overview of vascular plant systematics, tools and classifications).
The lab will cover sight-recognition of approximately 225 local plant species, family and genus recognition,
using a comprehensive key for species identification, and it will include many field trips during which you can
practice identification and see natural history first-hand. The focus will mainly be on the established flora of
western Washington, both native and introduced. We will start with ferns and gymnosperms in January,
followed by winter twig identification, and then move into flowering plants as they begin to bloom in more
abundance outside. Field specimens will occasionally be supplemented with greenhouse or herbarium
material.
I hope to offer some optional Saturday or Sunday trips to places we can't visit in the course timeframe.
Finally, if the weather cooperates and there is sufficient student interest, I'd like to offer an optional day-long
2
or weekend field trip to Deception Pass State Park, the east side of the Cascades, the Columbia River Gorge,
or Mt. St. Helens during the spring bloom.
Pay attention to the weather on field trip days! We will go out regardless of the weather and I want you to
stay warm and dry as much as possible. Dress appropriately, wear waterproof boots or shoes, and bring
your Rite in the Rain notebook if rain is likely!
I encourage you to visit as many field sites as you can to practice your identification. I will supply directions
to each site we visit so you can go back on your own if you want.
Of course, I expect you to be bound by the rules of Academic Integrity (http://www.pugetsound.edu/studentlife/personal-safety/student-handbook/academic-handbook/academic-integrity/).
UW Burke Museum Herbarium Image Collection
The single best on-line site for finding information and photos of western Washington flora is the UW Burke
Museum Herbarium image collection (http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php).
You can search the site by family, genus, or species and there’s an identification key for unknown species. I use this site constantly. Another good place for site-specific species lists is the Washington Native Plant Society
website (http://www.wnps.org/plant_lists/exploring_native_plants.html). You can click on any county in
Washington and see a list of sites for which WNPS members have contributed their plant lists.
Evaluation Criteria
Grades will be based on:
5 quizzes
5%
2 midterm exams (in-class portion & take-home portion)
20%
4 field exams -- recognizing required taxa
(2@5% + 2@10%) = 30%
4 keying exams -- identifying unknown taxa
(2@5% + 2@10%) = 30%
2 popular press style papers, 2-3 pages each, on specific plant topics
(6% + 9%) = 15%
Total 100%
PLACES TO SEE PLANTS
Field Trip Destinations
Other sites
Courtyard garden and UPS campus
Tacoma Nature Center (aka Snake Lake)
Pt. Defiance Park (esp. the native plant garden)
Puget Park (N 31st & Proctor/off Ruston Way)
Hylebos Natural Area (Federal Way)
Tacoma Community College (S 12th& Pearl)
Wildwood Park (Puyallup)
Wapato Park (S. 72nd just east of I-5)
Ft. Steilacoom Park (Lakewood)
Swan Creek Park (Puyallup)
th
Titlow Beach and Park (west end of 6 )
Dash Point State Park (Federal Way)
Watershed Park (Olympia)
Nisqually Wildlife Refuge (E of Olympia)
McLane Creek (SW of Olympia)
Tolmie State Park (Lacey)
Mima Mounds & Scatter Creek (S of Olympia)
Saltwater State Park (Federal Way)
Federation Forest State Park (on Hwy. 410)
Classroom Emergency Response Guidance
Please review university emergency preparedness and response procedures posted
atwww.pugetsound.edu/emergency/. There is a link on the university home page. Familiarize yourself with hall
exit doors and the designated gathering area for your class and laboratory buildings.
If building evacuation becomes necessary (e.g. earthquake), meet your instructor at the designated gathering
area so she/he can account for your presence. Then wait for further instructions. Do not return to the building or
classroom until advised by a university emergency response representative.
If confronted by an act of violence, be prepared to make quick decisions to protect your safety. Flee the area by
running away from the source of danger if you can safely do so. If this is not possible, shelter in place by securing
classroom or lab doors and windows, closing blinds, and turning off room lights. Lie on the floor out of sight and
away from windows and doors. Place cell phones or pagers on vibrate so that you can receive messages quietly.
Wait for further instructions.
Bio$377$
$
(
Tentative(Course(Schedule$
(
Jan$20$
Evolutionary$history$of$
vascular$plants$
(JCKSD:153<173)$
Lab(
Introduction$to$plant$morphology$$
(JCKSD:53<61);$$
Seedless$Vascular$Plants$
(JCKSD:185<206)$
Jan$22$
Angiosperm$Diversity$&$Phylogeny$
(JCKSD:173<181)$
Gymnosperms$
(JCKSD:206<221)$
Week$2$
$
Jan$27$
Plant$ecology:$resources,$competitors$
and$predators$
Quiz(1:(Morphology,(Ferns(and((
Gymnosperm(terms((1%)(
Winter$ID$of$deciduous$twigs$
Paper(1(
idea$
Jan$29$
Week$1$
Week$3$
Feb$$3$
Lecture(
Spring$2015$
FIELD(TRIP:(POINT(DEFIANCE(
Forests,$Disturbance$&$Succession$
Franklin(&(Dyrness(article((Moodle)$
Quiz(2:(Winter(Twig(terms((1%)(
Keying$Practice(
Feb$$5$
FIELD(TRIP:(HYLEBOS(WETLAND,(FEDERAL(WAY(
Feb$10$
FIELD(EXAM(1((5%)(
Week$4$
Feb$12$
Life$History$and$the$Environment:$$
vegetative$&$reproductive$tradeUoffs$
TWIG/CONIFER(KEYING(EXAM(1((5%)$
Week$5$
Feb$17$
Evolutionary$history$of$flowers,$
systematic$overview$of$angiosperms$
(JCKSD:225<231)$
Flower$&$Inflorescence$Morphology$and$
Terminology$
(JCKSD:(61<67,(72<74)$
Paper(1(
Draft$
Feb$19$
PlantUmicrobial$interactions$
Identifying$Plant$Families$
Feb$24$
Video:$Private$lives$of$plants$
(JCKSD:67<72)$
Week$6$
Feb$26$
Fruit$Morphology$
and$Terminology$(JCKSD:74<81)$$
Keying$Practice$
FIELD(TRIP:(WILDWOOD(PARK,(PUYALLUP$
Impacts$of$invasive$species$$
$
Quiz(3(flower,(inflorescence(and(fruit(terms$
Keying$Practice$
Week$7$
Mar$$3$
Paper(1(
Due((6%)$
Mar$$5$
KEYING(EXAM(2((5%)(
Mar$10$
FIELD(TRIP:(FT.(STEILACOOM(PARK$
Mar$12$
Midterm(I(Take<Home(portion(due((5%)(
In<class(midterm((5%)((
Week$8$
Mar(
16<20(
SPRING(BREAK(
Week$9$
Mar$24$
FIELD(TRIP:(TITLOW(PARK(
Paper(2(
idea$
Mar$26$
FIELD(EXAM(2((5%)$
Mar$31$
Phylogenetic$techniques$
(JCKSD:1<37)$
Making$dichotomous$keys$
April$2$
Speciation$in$plants$
(JCKSD:(121<133)$
Quiz(4:(Families/terms((1%)(
Keying$practice$
Week$10$
Apr$$7$
FIELD(TRIP:(WATERSHED(PARK,(OLYMPIA(
Apr$$9$
KEYING(EXAM(3((10%)(
Week$12$
Apr$14$
FIELD(TRIP:(McLANE(CREEK,(OLYMPIA(
Paper(2(
Draft(
Apr$16$
Week$11$
Apr$21$
Week$13$
Apr$23$
Hybridization$and$polyploidy$
(JCKSD:(133<144)(
Quiz(5:(Families((1%)(
Keying$practice$(Grasses)$
FIELD(EXAM(3((10%)(
Species$concepts,$systematic$heirarchy$
and$nomenclature$(JCKSD:144<149)$
Quiz(6:(Grass(keying(characters((1%)(
Keying$practice(
Week$14$
Apr$28$
FIELD(TRIP:(MIMA(MOUNDS(
Paper(2(
Due((9%)$
Apr$30$
FIELD(TRIP:(SCATTER(CREEK$
Week$15$
May$$5$
FIELD$EXAM(4((10%)(
Tuesday(
May(12(
12:00<
4:00(pm(
KEYING(EXAM(4((10%)(
Midterm(II(Take<home(exam(due((10%)(
$
LATE(APRIL(OR(EARLY(MAY<<OPTIONAL(FIELD(TRIP(S)(TO(DECEPTION(PASS,(YAKIMA(CANYON(&(HAYWARD(
HILL,(OR(THE(COLUMBIA(RIVER(GORGE.((ANY(INTEREST?(
$
$