Biology 315 Woody Plants
Au Sable
May Term 2008
Welcome!!
Salix candida, sage-leaved willow, Hartwick Pines, Crawford County, Michigan May 2005. This is arguably the most attractive of the native willows of Michigan.
Welcome to woody plants! Trees are fascinating creatures, the largest and oldest of living things. The emphasis in this course is on learning how to learn trees rather than just learning trees. Part of this exercise, of course, is to learn trees, that is, to be able to name them and understand their ecology, uses, ethnobotany, reproductive biology, and structure. One of my objectives is for you to also learn how to recover information on trees and to be able to write about them.
I love plants, Jesus loves plants, and I hope you love both!
This is me standing next to a mammoth cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) at the Erz Preserve, near Bsherri on Mount Lebanon. March 2002.
Lytton John Musselman
Department of Biological Sciences
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0266
This course may be much different from any other biology course you have taken because instruction will take place in the field! That means that we will have to examine, discuss, and take tests in the field. Because we are out-of-doors, it may not seem like a class experience. Remember, this IS your class time and in many cases we will have only one opportunity to view a tree or shrub.
K Topics:
In order to fulfill the objectives, we will cover the following topics:
1. Woody plant morphology.
2. Wood anatomy.
3. NomenclatureBHow plants are named and why names change.
4. Keys and keying.
5. Floral biology.
6. Fruit/cone biology.
7. Use of plants and, when appropriate, ethnobotany.
8. Recognition.
9. Digitizing field experiences.
Tentative Schedule
14 May W AM. Integrative Session. What this course is about. Introduction to plant names and naming. Introduction to trees as organisms. Discussion of projects. In class writing assignment: What is the fastest, most efficient way to learn the identity of a plant? Read “Plants of the Koran and the Bible” (URL given below)
15 May R First writing assignment due. This is a one page essay on trees of the Koran and the Bible emphasizing the role of trees in culture. I will give you instructions regarding formatting and length. Field trip. Jordan River. Oaks and hickories.
16 May F Review of writing assignment. Introduction to major woody plant families. Field quiz 1.
19 May M Field trip. Grass River. Field quiz. EXAM ONE This will cover all the assigned readings in your text.
20 May T Field trip. TBA. Field quiz 2. Review of exam.
21 May W Integrative Session Local field trip.
22 May R Field trip. Wilderness State Park. The largest woody genus in Michigan: Salix—the willows. Field quiz 3.
23 May F Wood Anatomy
26 May M MEMORIAL DAY
27 May T Field trip. Hartwick Pines State Park. Field quiz 4.
28 May W Field trip. Bear Lake Bog. Field quiz 5.
29 May R Field trip. Sleeping Bear Dunes . Field quiz 6
30 May F 30 May F AM. Class breakfast. PM. Project time. Individual help.
2 June M Review
3 June R FINAL EXAM (Comprehensive, written and identification)
Grading
Field quizzes (total of six, drop one) 100 points
Exam one 100 points
Class participation 50 points
Fragment quiz 50 points
Final written exam 100 points
Final field exam 100 points
TOTAL 500 points
Why is Schedule and Grading Scheme Tentative?
Registering for this course does not mean that we can control the weather! Field trips may need to be re-scheduled because of inclement weather or because of progression of the season. In other words, some plants may come into flower or be more available if the weather becomes warmer or colder. I may find it necessary to change the way I compute your final grade based on the overall background of the class and other factors. In no case will this involve more than 15% of the total final grade.
Philosophy of Instruction
This is a highly interactive class and may be quite different from others you have taken. Please, do not hesitate to ask for help. We will be spending many hours together and will have ample opportunity to talk. However, this is not intended to replace individual help outside class.
What background do you need for this course?
Because you have had general biology, I assume you know
Basic terms applied to plant reproduction including: meiosis (and how it differs from mitosis), asexual reproduction, diploid, haploid, gametophyte, sporophyte, zygote, embryo, seed, fruit, carpel, flower, pollen, pistil, ovule.
Basic terms used to describe leaves and shoots including: opposite leaves, alternate leaves, whorled leaves, compound leaf, simple leaf, blade, petiole, shoot, stem, bud, herbaceous growth, woody growth, bark, secondary growth, lenticel.
If you need help, refer to a general botany textbook. I highly recommend the text by Raven, Evert, and Eicchorn, BIOLOGY OF PLANTS.
Text
Thomas, P. 2000. Trees: Their Natural History. Cambridge: University Press. This small book has extraordinary explanatory power. It tells how trees grow and how they behave. It is the best book I have found to help me understand trees. I use it in my dendrology course at Old Dominion University.
Helpful References
Soper, J. H. and M. L. Heimburger. 1985. Shrubs of Ontario. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum. I like this because of the manner in which it deals with larger and more difficult groups such as willows (genus Salix).
Barnes, B. V. and W. H. Wagner, Jr. 1981. Michigan Trees A Guide to the Trees of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. This is a very usable, informative guide. It is the overall best guide to trees in the Great Lakes Region
Musselman, L. J. 2007. Figs, Dates, Laurel, and Myrrh: Plants of the Bible and the Quran. Portland: Timber Press. This is obviously a book with which I am somewhat familiar. It treats all the trees of the two holy books
Other assigned reading/viewing: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/005/Y9882e/Y9882e09.pdf
And, The Wonder of a Tree. Radio Bible Class video.
References (only a few!)
Billington, C. 1949. Shrubs of Michigan. Cranbrook Institute of Science Bulletin 20, second edition. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science. [While the nomenclature will be out of date, this remains the best book for shrubs of the state.]
Crum, H. 1988. A Focus on Peatlands and Peat Mosses. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. [Read chapters 1, 2, 3.]
Gleason, H. A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Edition. Bronx: New York Botanical Garden. [The most modern, up to date guide for all the plants of the region. The keys are not always easy to use.]
Holmgren, N. H. 1998. Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist=s Manual. Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjaent Canada. Bronx: New York Botanical Garden. [No matter what anyone says, one of the best ways to recognize plants is by using pictures. This volume includes pictures of all the plants in the Gleason and Cronquist Manual.]
Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 1993. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 2. Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms. New York: Oxford University Press. [We will use the nomenclature of this flora. It is the most up to date, comprehensive treatment of gymnosperms of North America.]
Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 1997. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 3. Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae. New York: Oxford
University Press. [This will be our authority for oaks, elms, walnut, bayberries, and other families of woody plants.]
Other resources: We will use several of the standard references as well as the internet.
Good Botanical Web Sites
The world wide web is in such a state of flux that it is impossible to list new sites as they appear. I recommend two excellent sites as course resources where you can find information on a vast array of plants. The first is Scott's Botanical Links. The second is Internet Directory for Botany.
MASTER LIST OF TREES, SHRUBS AND LIANAS
This list is intended as a exhaustive list of the trees, shrubs, lianas, and suffrutescent plants observed during the Woody Plants class at Au Sable Institute. Species of Crataegus and Rubus are not treated in detail. Known introduced species are marked with an asterisk (*).
Abies balsamea
Acer negundo
Acer pensylvanicum
*Acer platanoides
Acer rubrum
Acer saccharinum
Acer saccharum
Acer spicatum
Alnus incana (=A. rugosa)
Amelanchier arborea
Amelanchier interior
Amelanchier spicata
Amelanchier sanguinea
Amelanchier stolonifera
Andromeda glaucophylla
Aralia nudicaulis
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Aronia prunifolia (= A. melanocarpa)
Betula alleghaniensis
Betula glandulifera
Betula papyrifera
Betula pumila
*Caragana arborescens
Chamaedaphne calyculata
Chimaphila umbellata
Comptonia peregrina
Corylus cornuta
Cornus alternifolia
Cornus canadensis
Cornus obliqua
Cornus rugosa
Cornus stolonifera
Crataegus punctata
Diervilla lonicera
*Eleagnus angustifolia
Epigaea repens
Fagus grandifolia
Fraxinus americana
Fraxinus nigra
Hamamelis virginiana
Gaultheria hispidula
Gaultheria procumbens
Gaylussacia baccata
Hudsonia tomentosa
Hypericum prolificum
Ilex verticillata
Juglans nigra
Juniperus communis
Juniperus horizontalis
Kalmia polifolia
Larix laricina
Ledum groenlandicum
Linnaea borealis
Lonicera canadensis
Lonicera dioica
Lonicera oblongifolia
*Lonicera tartarica
*Malus pumila (=Pyrus malus)
Myrica gale
Nemopanthus mucronata
Ostrya virginiana
Parthenocissus inserta
Physocarpus opulifolius
*Picea abies
Picea glauca
Picea mariana
*Picea pungens
Pinus banksiana
*Pinus mugo
Pinus resinosa
Pinus strobus
*Pinus sylvestris
Potentilla fruticosa
Populus balsamifera
Populus deltoides
Populus grandidentata
Populus tremuloides
Prunus nigra
Prunus pensylvanica
Prunus pumila
Prunus serotina
Prunus virginiana
Quercus alba
Quercus coccinea (including Q. ellipsoidalis)
Quercus rubra
Rhamnus alnifolia
*Rhamnus cathartica
Rhus glabra
Rhus typhina
Ribes americanum
Ribes cynosbati
Ribes glandulosum
Ribes triste
*Robinia pseudoacacia
Rosa palustris
Rubus allegheniensis
Rubus flagellaris
Rubus parviflorus
Rubus strigosus
*Salix alba var. pitellina (=S. babylonica of some authors)
Salix bebbiana
Salix candida
Salix cordata
Salix discolor
Salix eriocephala
Salix exigua (=S. interior)
*Salix fragilis
Salix humilis
Salix lucida
Salix nigra
Salix pedicellaris
Salix petiolaris
Sambucus canadensis
Sambucus pubens
Shepherdia canadensis
*Solanum dulcamara
Sorbus americana
Sorbus decora
Spiraea alba
Taxus canadensis
Thuja occidentalis
Tilia americana
Toxicodendron radicans
Toxicodendron vernix
Tsuga canadensis
Ulmus americana
*Ulmus pumila
Ulmus thomasii
Vaccinium angustifolium
Vaccinium macrocarpon
Vaccinium myrtilloides
Vaccinium oxycoccos
Vaccinium pallidum (=V. vacillans)
Viburnum acerifolium
Viburnum lentago
Viburnum nudum (=V. cassinoides)
*Vinca minor
Vitis riparia
25 April 2008
Lytton John Musselman
lmusselm@odu.edu
Synopsis of Common Shrubby Willows in the Au Sable Area
This synopsis is intended for use during the month of May. Other features that might be of identification value later in the season are not listed.
Salix bebbiana Branchlets reddish brown, becoming darker with age; common in a variety of habitats; one of our tallest willow shrubs; pistils on long stipes, stipes longer than straw colored (usually) subtending bracts; catkins coetaneous; staminate catkins maturing acropetally; leaves with silky hairs when young. Look for long stipes, reddish tinged developing leaves.
Salix candida Perhaps the most easily recognized willow with wooly white pistils and leaf undersurfaces, scales at base of pistils about as long as stipes
Salix discolor Branchlets dark grayish brown; often found in upland habitats but also in wetter areas; one of our tallest willow shrubs; pistils hairy; the first willow to flower, therefore precocious; leaves hairy, youngest often reddish tinged; first willow to release seeds (in May)
Salix exigua Branchlets gray, not shining; sandbars, lake margins, river banks; habit distinct with many single stems; catkins coetaneous; staminate flowers with two stamens; pistils with four lobed stigmas; leaf scale often split; leaves the narrowest of any of our shrubby willows, recurved glands on margins, longer than wide
Salix humilis Branchlets yellow to brown, not shiny; of all our willows, found in the driest habitats like dry sand; our smallest willow, often less than 0.5 M tall; pistils on stipes, pubescent; bracts at base of pistils dark; catkins precocious; leaves pubescent; one of the first willows (along with S. discolor) to fruit, capsules open in May
Salix lucida Branchlets yellowish to yellowish brown, shiny, darker with age; variety of wetlands; up to 2 M tall; pistils glabrous; bracts at base of pistils yellow; catkins coetaneous; staminate catkins maturing acropetally, stamens 4-5; leaf scale expanding with catkin, prominent; leaves glabrous with glandular teeth. A distinct willow.
Salix pedicellaris Branchlets yellowish to olive, glabrous; bogs, one of our more habitat specific willows; one of our shortest willows; pistils glabrous; bracts at base of pistils yellow-brown; catkins coetaneous; leaves glabrous, white beneath
Salix petiolaris Branchlets yellow-brown, glabrous; in a variety of habitats; medium sized shrub; pistil stipe short, pistil pubescent; bracts at base of pistils green (?), many pistils aborted; catkins coetaneous; young leaves silky hairy, leaves finely serrate. Can be confused with S. exigua, but with shorter stems and narrower leaves and shorter glandular teeth on leaves
Third draft
25 April 2008