COURSE DESCRIPTION (from catalog):
IntBio 15. Natural History of Plants and Fungi, with emphasis on California. (2) Two hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: None. Open to all students and designed for those not specializing in the biological sciences. Focus is on the natural history of the major groups of plants (including algae and seaweeds) and fungi, especially as they relate to California. Aspects of natural history include structure, function, ecology (including plant communities, pollination, and dispersal), and uses by humans. (F) Schmid
        Note: There is no laboratory for this course. This course was formerly offered as Integrative Biology 15 and 15L: Plant and fungal biology (3 units), with two one-hour lectures and one two-hour lab per week.

TEXT BOOK:
Assigned readings will be made from the appropriate chapters in this textbook:
        Stern, K. R. et al. "2003" (recd. Berkeley 31 July 2002). Introductory plant biology. 9th ed. [The recent earlier editions are also usable in this course.]

LECTURE TOPICS:
Some of these topics will involve more than one lecture. This sequence of topics is not necessarily the final one. The lecture topics will be copiously illustrated with overlay or especially blackboard work, slides (transparencies), and/or DEMOs!

Introductory topics:

• Introduction to the course and to its subject matter
• The broad classification of organisms
• Cell structure; mitosis
• Vegetative structure of vascular plants: gross morphology; anatomy and development

• Bacteria and other prokaryotes
• Sexual reproduction: Meiosis and syngamy; the main types of life histories
• Asexual or vegetative reproduction
• Seaweeds and other algae, and introduction to the land plants
• Mosses and other bryophytes
• Ferns and other pteridophytes
• Introduction to the seed plants: General aspects; basic structure of pollen grains, ovules, and seeds
• Conifers (especially pines) and other gymnosperms
• Flowering plants (angiosperms) I. Structure of flowers and pollen; embryological aspects (begin)
• Flowering plants (angiosperms) II. Embryological aspects (finish); fruits, seeds, and seedlings
• Flowering plants (angiosperms) III. Dicotyledons versus monocotyledons; distinctive features and reasons for evolutionary success
• Fungi I. General aspects of fungi; the "lower fungi": slime, water, and bread molds; chytrids
• Fungi II. The "higher fungi": general aspects; sac, club, and imperfect fungi
• Fungi III. The wheat rust pathogen, lichens, and mycorrhizae
• Types of associations between organisms. Symbiotic and non-symbiotic associations

• Flowering plants (angiosperms) IV. Pollination and dispersal biology
• Flowering plants (angiosperms) V. Specializations of the lunatic fringe? Ecological groups: Carnivorous, parasitic, aquatic, xeric plants, etc.: Some organ and whole-plant modifications
• California ecology I: Introduction to the topography, climate, and vegetation of California
• California ecology II: Vegetation of the White Mountains, with emphasis on dendrochronology and the life history of Pinus longaeva (bristlecone pine), a living link with the past
• California ecology III: Fire and flood: Two constant phenomena in California
• California ecology IV: Weeds: Characteristics and effects

• History, botany, and agriculture of cacao and chocolate
• Inside herbs, spices, and drugs: An anatomist's view

Plants are directly or indirectly vital to all forms of animal life, including humans. The study of human uses of plants has generally gone under the rubric of economic botany. Topics might include the history and production of coffee, tea, cacao (the source of cocoa and chocolate), corn, and similar crop plants. The emphasis here is often from an historical and/or especially agricultural perspective. The use of plants by indigenous peoples is generally called ethnobotany. Examples might be the use of pine or cedar by prehistoric and historic Indians of North America or the use of certain palms in housing by native Pacific Islanders. Medical botany involves the use of plants in folk medicine or modern medicine. Two examples that have received much attention in recent years are taxol derived from the yew tree Taxus brevifolia and used to treat breast cancer, and Ginkgo biloba derived from the tree of the same name and used as an apparent memory enhancer. Of course, many herbs and spices used nowadays for culinary purposes have had medical or presumed medical applications in earlier times.

• 100 points for the collection project, a physical booklet of shoots, leaves, and other botanical materials collected on the UCB campus in the vicinity of the LSB. The purpose of the project is to have you walk around campus and apply some of the botanical knowledge that you obtain in lecture and/or from your textbook.
• 200 points for the lecture final exam (This will cover all the lectures! Well before the final exam a selection of sample exam questions will be distributed. Some 15-20 points on the final exam will be devoted to questions based on the California Ecology Exhibit at the Oakland Museum.)

300 points total

• plus 20-25 bonus points: Beginning in the third or fourth week of classes, after enrollment has stabilized, roll will be periodically and randomly taken, without announcement, and bonus points will be awarded to those persons who are present in those lectures! The reason for this is as follows: Because there is no midterm scheduled, the tendency for some persons will be to skip many if not most lectures. If this is done, such persons will likely suffer some point penalty because they will miss some bonus quiz points. Also note that the final exam will be based almost entirely on the lecture material. The 20-25 bonus points taken from taking roll in lecture will be used to adjust grades upward (e.g., "A-" to "A", "B" to "B+", etc.).

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Last revised: December 2003