Announcements
Lab this week:
Wear warm
clothes for
conifer walk
Jim Brown
Seminar
Wed. 9th
UC Theatre
Coniferales (Conifers)
5 families worldwide, 3 in Montana
Pinaceae - Pine Family
Cupressaceae - Cypress Family
Taxaceae - Yew Family
Conifers - Pinaceae (Pine Family)
Pinus - Pine
Larix - Larch or Tamarack
Pseudotsuga - Douglas Fir
Abies - Fir
Tsuga - Hemlock
Picea - Spruce
Larix - Larch
Key features
 Deciduous needles in clusters
 Small cones w/ 3-parted bracts
P. monticola
L. occidentalis
Western Larch
L. lyallii
Subalpine Larch
P. albicaulis
Tsuga - Hemlock
P. albicaulis
T. heterophylla
(coastal disjunct)
Pseudotsuga menziesii - Douglas-fir
P. monticola
P. albicaulis
Abies - Fir
Key features
 Blunt evergreen needles
 Barrel-shaped cones held upright
 Cone scales dehisce (fall off)
P. monticola
P. albicaulis
A. lasiocarpa
Subalpine Fir
A. grandis
Grand Fir
P. monticola
P. albicaulis
Key features
Picea - Spruce
 Sharp needles
 Papery cones hang down
P. monticola
twig w/ pegs
scaley bark
P. albicaulis
P. engelmannii
Engelmann Spruce
P. glauca
White Spruce
P. monticola
P. albicaulis
Conifers - Pinaceae (Pine Family)
Pinus - Pine
Larix - Larch or Tamarack
Pseudotsuga - Douglas Fir
Abies - Fir
Tsuga - Hemlock
Picea - Spruce
Cupressaceae - Cypress Family
Key features
 Leaves usually scale-like (folded and flattened)
 Female cones small, either woody or “berry-like”
 Two genera in Montana
 Thuja (large trees)
 Juniperus (small trees or shrubs)
Thuja plicata - Western Red Cedar
Coastal disjunct found
on moister western
slopes in Rockies
Female cones
Juniperus - Juniper
 Dioecious shrubs/small trees
 Female cones berry-like
J. communis
Common Juniper
 low shrub w/needles
 worldwide distribution
J. scopulorum
Rocky Mtn. Juniper
 shrub/small tree
 scale leaves
Taxaceae - Yew Family
Key features
 Dioecious shrubs/small trees
 Needles flattened; appear 2-ranked
 No cone - seed surrounded by a fleshy aril
 One genus/species in Montana (Taxus brevifolia)
Taxus brevifolia - Pacific Yew
Papery
bark
Coastal disjunct only
in moist areas here
(canyons etc.)
Arils (only
on females)
Conifer Questions????
Pinaceae - Pine Family
Cupressaceae - Cypress Family
Taxaceae - Yew Family
Moving on to angiosperms: the vast majority of plants
Seed plants
~135 mya
Ephedra
Conifers Gingkos Cycads Angiosperms
600 species
257,000 species
Plant life histories
Different means to the same end:
survival & reproduction
Lifespan and timing of reproduction
Ideal plant strategy:
1) live forever
2) make lots of seeds every year
Why not?
Lifespan and timing of reproduction
Ideal plant strategy:
1) live forever
2) make lots of seeds every year
Why not?
Limited resources (light, nutrients, water etc.)
 tradeoff between survival/growth and
reproduction (usually...)
Lifespan and timing of reproduction
Life history strategies
high adult mortality --> reproduce now!
ex. weeds, vernal pool plants
high seedling mortality --> just survive!
ex. trees, grassland forbs
Lifespan and timing of reproduction: herbs
(woody trees and shrubs are all perennial by definition)
Mimulus douglasii
Oenothera biennis
Balsamorhiza and Lupinus
Annual
Biennial
Perennial
 1st year: flowers, dies
 1st year: makes rosette
 2nd year: flowers, dies
 Lives for multiple years
 May or may not flower in
any year
Lifespan and timing of reproduction
iteroparity - reproduce repeatedly
etc.
semelparity- reproduce once, then die
Lifespan and timing of reproduction
Agave (Century Plant)
extreme semelparity
Plants are sessile and modular
vs.
Some consequences of being a plant
• can make own food (photosynthesis)
• can grow indefinitely & survive major damage
BUT,
can’t go look for a better place
 local competition for resources
 evolution of fungal/bacterial symbioses
 evolution of seed dispersal mechanisms
can’t go look for mates
 evolution of pollination mechanisms
Competition for light affects plant growth form
 over evolutionary time
 over individual lifespans
terminal (apical) bud
Angiosperm
vegetative
terminology
internode
axillary bud
leaf!
node
stem
terminal (apical) bud
Angiosperm
vegetative
terminology
internode
axillary bud
leaf!
node
stem
or shoot
opposite
leaves
alternate
whorled
Cauline leaves
(on shoot)
Angiosperm
vegetative
terminology
Basal leaves (at base of shoot)
Leaf parts
Leaf venation
margin
midvein
dichotomous
pinnate
blade
petiole
stipule
palmate
parallel
Plant water relations
Leaves need to uptake gas (CO2) for photosynthesis, but
also need to minimize loss of H2O through leaves
mesophyll
w/chloroplasts
vein w/vascular tissue
(water , sugar )
waxy cuticle
(blocks water loss)
stoma w/guard cells
(regulates gas exchange)
Succulents
(modified for water storage)
Sagebrush foliage - Adaptation to dry/high sun conditions
Artemisia tridentata (Asteraceae)
Leaf forms
Leaf margins
entire
dentate
simple
unlobed
compound
(palmate)
simple
lobed
compound
(pinnate)
simple
lobed (palmate)
compound
(twice pinnate)
How to figure out what is the leaf
axillary bud is
always at base of leaf
(above the petiole)
Roots
 anchoring
 water and nutrient absorption
 water and carbohydrate storage
Taproot
Fibrous
roots
Adventitious
roots
Storage roots
?
Modified stems
rhizome = horizontal, rootlike stem
shoot
buds
rhizome
stem
roots
tuber
(extra-starchy rhizome)
Modified stems
stolon = an aboveground horizontal stem with long internodes
Fragaria
Saxifraga
plantlets
Fragaria
Saxifraga
Asexual or clonal reproduction
Modularity => a continuum between growth and reproduction
Fragaria
Saxifraga
Definition of “individual” depends on perspective
genetic individual --> “genet”
growth unit --> “ramet”
Saxifraga
Populus tremuloides (Aspen)