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 (1,200 spp.) Psilophytes (2 spp.) Equisetophytes (15 spp.) Pteridophytes (ca. 20,000 spp.)

Seed Plants Primary focus of this course (Spermatophytes) Gymnosperms – (approx. 1,000 spp.) Gnetophytes Cycads Ginkgo Conifers Flowering Plants (Angiosperms) – Primary focus of this course

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”