PS 231 – Woody Ornamental ID

Syllabus – Fall Semester 2005

http://plantsciences.montana.edu/horticulture/ps231/homepage.htm

 

Robyn Klein, Adjunct Instructor

Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology

No campus office

585-9134

robyn@rrreading.com

Office hours: T, R 9-11:50 a.m.

 

Class:   M, W, F 1:10-3:00 p.m.  

Plant Growth Center 211

 

 
Teaching Assistants: Josh Benson, Clay Demastus, Darcy Mccune, Jake Niles, and Missy Trishman

 

Required Texts:

1)  Dirr, Michael (1998) Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses, 5th ed.

2)  Gough, Robert (2003) Tree & Shrub Selection Guide:  A Resource for Montana Landscaping Projects, MSU Cooperative Extension Service EB 123.

3)  Gough, Robert and Dougher, Tracy (2003) Tree and Shrub Grower’s Guide: A Handbook for the Culture of Montana Landscape Plants.  MSU Cooperative Extension Service EB162.

 

Supplementary Texts:

1)  Dictionary of Root Words and Combining Forms by Donald J. Borror

2)  Botanica’s Trees & Shrubs (1999) Laurel Glen Publishing

3)  Plant Identification Terminology (2004) Spring Lake Publishing

 

Overview/Objective: The primary objective of this course is to acquaint the student with methods of identifying and characterizing coniferous trees, deciduous trees, coniferous shrubs, deciduous shrubs, and woody vines commonly used as ornamentals in Montana and some species utilized outside of Montana.  The secondary objective of this course is to familiarize students with the cultural conditions suitable for these woody ornamentals.

 

GRADING

3 Treasure Hunts @ 30 points each

90

3 MT Leaf Quizzes @ 60 points each

180

MT Leaf Final Exam

300

1 MT Conifer Quiz @ 60 points

60

MT Conifer Final Exam

120

3 MT Twig Quizzes @ 60 points each

180

MT Twig Final Exam

300

Virtual Tree Project

160

1 Non-MT Plant Quiz @ 60 points

60

Non-MT Plant Exam

150

Total

1600

 

 

            THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP FOR     QUIZZES.  EXAMS MAY ONLY BE          MADE UP IF YOU HAVE A            DOCTOR’S EXCUSE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRADING SCALE

A

≥ 93%

B+

87-89%

C+

77-79%

D+

67-69%

F

£ 59%

A-

90-92%

B

83-86%

C

73-76%

D

63-66%

 

 

 

 

B-

80-82%

C-

70-72%

D-

60-62%

 

 

 

Identification Walks:  Introduction of a new plant list will be made every Friday.  Because time will not allow for the entire list to be introduced, the list will be completed on Monday.  Plant walks will include lecture on keys to identifying families and groups, locations of reference specimens, hints to identifying each species, and key plant culture information.  Walks will be taken regardless of weather, so dress appropriately.   We will try to complete the Montana plant portion of the class by Thanksgiving so we will not have to endure the colder weather.

 

Identification & Culture Resources:

1)      Texts:  Your textbooks are an excellent resource for learning about many aspects of the plants we will be studying.

2)      Independent Learning Center:  The CDs, pictures, plant specimens, and leaf mounts used during class will be made available in the Independent Learning Center (Room 210 PGC).  Please abide by the rules posted in this room.  Resources are to remain in the ILC.  Use this resource in a timely fashion as this room becomes extremely crowded just prior to quizzes.

3)      PS 231 Webpage:  We have developed a web page complete with many pictures of the species we are studying.  The web page is arranged by plant families and can be found at: http://plantsciences.montana.edu/horticulture/ps231/homepage.htm

4)      Other webpages:  Other university woody ornamental websites have been bookmarked for your convenience.  These webpages provide another view of the plants.

 

Exams (Quizzes & Finals):

1)      Exams must be taken in pencil.

2)      On exam day, you may bring ONLY a clipboard, pencil, and matrix.

3)      Your matrix must be handed over to the instructor or TA leading the exam walk.

4)      There will be 11 quizzes and 4 finals over your recognition of plant species and culture.

5)      Each exam is comprehensive.

6)      Quizzes will be comprised of 15 specimens and 5 culture questions.  Finals will vary according to the number of species but include both specimens and culture questions.

7)      Plant specimens may be entire live plants, portions of plants, slides, pictures, stem sections, and/or leaf mounts.

8)      Examinations may be indoor or outdoor.  For outdoor exams, we will walk to each species and you will be allowed 3 minutes for plant identification.  Answers will be turned in at the end of 3 minutes, after which the species will be identified.

9)      Three of misspelling will be allowed before points are taken off provided that the name as spelled could be found in an index.

10)  Remember that NEATNESS COUNTS.  If we cannot read your answer, we cannot give you credit.

 

Point Assignments:

Exam

# of ID

Point Values ID

# of culture

Point Values Culture

Total Points

leaf quiz

15

1 family, 1 botanic, 1 common

5

3

60

leaf final

75

1 family, 1 botanic, 1 common

25

3

300

conifer quiz

15

1 family, 1 botanic, 1 common

5

3

60

conifer final

30

1 family, 1 botanic, 1 common

10

3

120

twig quiz

15

1 botanic, 1 form, 1 size

5

3

60

twig final

75

1 botanic, 1 form, 1 size

25

3

300

non-mt quiz

15

1 family, 1 botanic, 1 common

5

3

60

non-mt final

40

1 family, 1 botanic, 1 common

10

3

150

 

Date

Material

Assignment

Aug 29

Introduction – Terminology, Matrix

Leaf Treasure Hunt

Read Dirr: ix – xxxviii

Gough & Dougher: Key 1 - 16

31

MT Leaf List 1

Matrix 1

Sep 2

MT Leaf List 1

 

5

No Class, Labor Day

 

7

MT Leaf Quiz 1

 

9

MT Leaf List 2

Matrix 2

12

MT Leaf List 2

 

14

MT Leaf Quiz 2

 

16

MT Leaf List 3

Matrix 3

19

MT Leaf List 3

 

21

MT Leaf Quiz 3

 

23

MT Leaf List 4

Matrix 4

26

MT Leaf List 4

 

28

MT Leaf Quiz 4

 

30

Review

 

Oct 3

MT LEAF FINAL

 

5

Conifer Treasure Hunt

Read Dirr: xv, xxxvii

Gough & Dougher:  Key 1 - 16

7

MT Conifer List

Matrix 5

10

MT Conifer List

 

12

MT Conifer Quiz

 

14

Review

 

17

MT CONIFER FINAL

 

19

Twig Treasure Hunt

 

21

MT Twig List 1

 

24

MT Twig List 1

 

26

MT Twig Quiz 1

 

28

MT Twig List 2

 

31

MT Twig List 2

 

Nov 2

MT Twig Quiz 2

 

4

MT Twig List 3

 

7

MT Twig List 3

 

9

MT Twig Quiz 3

 

11

No Class, Veterans Day

 

14

MT Twig List 4

 

16

MT Twig List 4

 

18

MT Twig Quiz 4

 

21

MT TWIG FINAL

 

23

Virtual Tree Project Due

 

25

No Class, Thanksgiving

 

28

Non-MT List 1

Gough: 2 – 3; Matrix 6

30

Non-MT List 1/Planting

Gough & Dougher: 1 - 6

Dec 2

Non-MT Quiz 1

 

5

Non-MT List 2

Matrix 7

7

Non-MT List 2/Fertilizing

Gough & Dougher: 7 - 16

9

Non-MT Quiz 2

 

15

NON-MT FINAL

8-9:50 am

DON’T LOSE THIS PAGE!!!!

Virtual Tree Project                                                                         DUE NOV 23

In order to help you and future students study woody ornamental identification and for visitors to the MSU website, we are going to construct a Virtual Tree.  Here is your task:

 

As soon as possible:

1)      Work in groups of 3

2)      Each group will receive a list number.  Each group will be given a password for their list.  Each list will have 4 broadleaf and 1 conifer species.

3)      Photograph each species for the following parts and forms.  Note that each plant must be photographed in various seasons.

deciduous

coniferous

summer form (SF)

form (F)

winter form (WF)

leaf (L)

leaf (L)

cone (C)

bud (BD)

bud (BD)

bark (BK)

 

fruit (FR)

 

4)      Close-ups can be taken in-situ or on a blue background.  Be sure you can distinguish the characteristics so someone else can study the picture.

5)      Include a ruler in all close-ups

6)      Since pictures need to be digital, a digital camera is best, but regular film can be developed as digital pictures or photographs can be scanned (you will need to scan them in, we can provide help with this step) OR film developers can provide you with a CD of your pictures.  For the final step, pictures must be in .JPG format

7)      Size all your pictures to 3 x 5 (or 5 x 3) and 100 pixels/inch

8)      Name all your photos with their botanic name and plant part (as abbreviated above), with an underscore for spaces (e.g. sugar maple summer form file would be named:  Acer_saccharum_SF.jpg)

 

On the computer:  This step will require Microsoft Front Page™

9)      On one of the campus computers, open the folder \\xss049\Tour\list?? on your instructor’s PC

10)  Copy all of your pictures to this folder

11)  Open Microsoft Front Page

12)  Direct MS Front Page to open the file ‘blank_dec.html’ or ‘blank_conifer.html’ in the folder \\xss049\Tour\list??.  Fill in the form for each species naming the file with its Genus and specific epithet with an underscore for spaces (e.g. sugar maple file would be named: Acer_saccharum.htm).  This file includes:

a.       Family name photo

b.      Botanic name

c.       Common name

d.      Space for each photograph

13)  Be sure you are linked to and saving files on the instructor’s machine