Welcome to the Bio 324 (Field Botany) home page.

This class is all about experiencing plants in situ (where they grow in the wild). We learn about basic plant anatomy, and how to identify, collect and catalog plants. We visit a variety of ecosystems and consider plants in an ecological context. Back in the lab we think about the classification of plants, from Kingdom to species, the relationships between groups of plants, and how to name them.

Learn more about the camping and botanizing trip to the Iowa Great Lakes Region. Check it out!

the course syllabus is available on-line...enjoy!!

Class Materials

I ask you to visit these as "assigned reading"

• Why do leaves change color?
• PLANTS database -- provided by a Federal agency, the NRCS (formerly SCS). Gives the "official" names of plants, and much more information on almost any species.
• MUST KNOW LIST: complete version or quiz yourself (blank) version

Exam I (first lecture exam) review -- the exam is Friday, Nov. 16 in lecture (11 AM)

Links

• An on-line encyclopedia of trees/forestry
• "Wildflower Nirvana"
• Plant Link -- "The most comprehensive URL search engine for plant related web sites available."
• Botanical Link of the Day -- wonderful collection of botany-related sites, includes a searchable databse. Warning: some older links may no longer be active.
• Internet Directory for Botany -- a HUGE database. Mirrored in Canada and Europe.
• Virtual Library of Botany -- very large. Arranged by subject.
• Flowering Plant Gateway -- Provides links to information on various plant families. Most of our work is done with these (i.e., flowering) plants. .
• Vascular Plant Nomenclature -- from a professor at U-Maryland who takes plant names REALLY seriously.

Gardens & Herbaria

Many of these sites will have their own page of links to botanical information on the Web.

• Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew -- One of the world's oldest and most famous.
• Missouri Botanical Garden -- One of the best. Site with something for everyone. Home of the Flora of North America project.
• Brooklyn Bot. Garden -- enjoyable visit; mostly information for gardeners and laypersons, rather than technical works.
• Native Plant Conservation Initiative -- has information on R/T/E plants
• International Association for Plant Taxonomy -- our very own scientific society!
• Textbook of dermatology--Botan. derm. -- Has a nice brief description of taxonomy & nomenclature, and technical info on plants (e.g. Poison Ivy) causing skin irritations

Email me (weihep@central.edu) with questions. See you in class. --PW

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Return to the Biology Dept. homepage at Central College

This page prepared by Paul Weihe. Last modified 18 Oct. 2001.