Welcome to
Plant Systematics – Biology 366
Spring 2014
The wonderful world of land plant diversity
over 350,000 species!!!
“Seed-free plants”
Non-vascular Plants Hepatophytes – Liverworts (ca. 7,500 spp.)
Anthocerophytes – Hornworts (ca. 100 spp.)
Bryophytes – True mosses, sphagnum, etc. (ca. 12,000 spp.)
Seedless Vascular Plants -
Lycophytes
Psilophytes
Equisetophytes
Pteridophytes
(1,200 spp.)
(2 spp.)
(15 spp.)
(ca. 20,000 spp.)
Seed Plants
(Spermatophytes)
Gymnosperms – (approx. 1,000 spp.)
Cycads
Ginkgo
Conifers
Flowering Plants (Angiosperms) –
Primary focus of this course
Gnetophytes
The wonderful world of land plant diversity
over 300,000 species
of angiosperms
Vegetative Diversity
Amazing floral diversity in Angiosperms…
A wide range of fruit types…
So how do we organize all that information?
By looking at evolutionary relationships!
Fig. 7.1
Course Overview
Plant Systematics – Biology 366
Lectures:
Tuesday and Thursday, 210 Bessey, 12:40-2
Laboratory (303 Bessey):
Section 1 – T 2-5
Section 2 – W 12-3
Section 3 – W 3-6
Section 4 – Th 9-12
Materials
Course Pack: Plant Systematics – Biology 366,
Laboratory Manual by Clark et al. 2014
Text: Plant Systematics, by Simpson, 2nd ed., 2010
Hand lens (“Nerd-scope”) - 10X magnification.
Topics: Overview*
●Basics of classification
●Understanding structures and terminology for
working with vegetative plant parts, flowers,
and fruits
●Review of methods used to name plants and
how we can understand their relationships
●Origins of flowering plants and their
relationships to other land plants
●Survey of the major flowering plant groups
●Concepts of plant speciation, nomenclature,
and phylogeny reconstruction
●Practical plant identification
*Schedule of topics is found on the first section of the Laboratory Manual.
Course Website
http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/classes/bio366/
Exams, Grading, and Other
Evidence of Learning - I
Examinations
●Three Examinations will be given
throughout the semester; the first 2 and the
final practical are scheduled during
laboratory periods and will be held in 303
Bessey during your normal laboratory time.
●Exam I – 10%; Exam II – 10%; Final practical
– 12.5%; Final exam (lecture) – 15% (nearly
50% of total grade)
Exams, Grading, and Other
Evidence of Learning - II
Laboratory
Quizzes: 6 will be given throughout the semester and will
constitute 12.5% of the overall grade (125 points total); the lowest
quiz grade will be dropped.
Exercises: 7 of these will be given, 6 in lab and 1 in lecture. (200
points total)
Lab participation: Up to 18 keyouts will be provided, for 10 points
each. The other 20 points will be distributed for the herbarium
tour and participation. (200 points total)
Laboratory sessions are an integral and important component to
the course, and provide your best means of seeing the plant
material needed to understand the concepts and terminology.
How to do well in BIOL 366
●Come to all sessions – lecture and lab!
●Be sure to see all material in lab.
●Know and understand the terms used and the
concepts behind them.
●Keep track of questions you have, and get answers for
them from your books, TAs, or the instructor. USE A
LAB NOTEBOOK – Make DRAWINGS AND
PHOTOGRAPHS.
●Reviewing for exams should include reading the
relevant sections of the textbook, studying notes from
lecture, and materials covered in lab. All parts of the
course are interrelated.
●Consider making your own study guide that integrates
lab and lecture material.
●Check out Google Image and links on the website!
At the end of the course, you should:
• Have a better understanding of seed plant
diversity
• Be able to identify seed plants using
dichotomous keys
• Be able to recognize the most
common/important seed plant families
• Understand plant descriptive terminology
and use it appropriately
• Better understand phylogenetics and
“tree-thinking”