PLSCI 2480

Vascular Plant Systematics

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

An introduction to the goals and methods of plant systematics, and a survey of the diversity of vascular plants, including ferns, conifers, flowering plants, and related groups. Lectures cover plant reproduction and evolution, patterns of plant diversity, biogeography, and the methods used to analyze and interpret these patterns. The laboratory presents a survey of the diversity of vascular plants with a focus on major plant families, emphasizing groups that are prominent in natural habitats and in cultivation.

Prerequisites REF-FA25/Corequisites REF-FA25 BIOEE 1780 or PLSCI 2410. Corequisites: None.

Last 4 terms offered (None)

Outcomes REF-FA25

• Describe the goals of systematics and the methods used to analyze and interpret the history of plant diversification.
• Interpret and describe the vegetative and reproductive structures of plants using standard botanical terminology.
• Discuss the methods used to interpret major evolutionary changes in plant characteristics, with reference to the time, geographic location, and ecological setting in which these changes occurred.
• Discuss the nature of plant species, the principal mechanisms of plant speciation, and the methods used to describe, name, and classify species and higher-level groups.
• Describe the role of plant biodiversity and the study of systematics in conservation and sustainability initiatives.
• Work collaboratively to discuss the patterns and processes leading to our current biodiversity on earth.
• Distinguish 60 families of vascular plants.

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