4.1. Vegetative Morphology (under construction)

The aim of the next series of practical classes is to introduce you to the broad diversity of angiosperms and to provide you with training in their identification. To achieve this, you must first become familiar with the descriptive terminology used to communicate about the variation observed in plant morphology. Once you are conversant with botanical descriptive terminology, you should be able to identify any plant in the world, as long as you have a (reliable) taxonomic key. We provide you with training in how to use dichotomous keys as well as open-entry, interactive keys. Here is the link to the online key for the FLora of the Sydney Region.

As with any new language, you must be prepared to practice using botanical terminology. Therefore, throughout this component of the unit, we will provide you with opportunities to practice your newly acquired skills.

The following galleries follow the structure of your manual. At the end of this lab we want you to have a clear idea of what a leaf is and to be identify them. This is not a trivial learning outcome. HINT: look for axillary buds or evidence of axillary buds (Fig 4.1). See also Chapter 4 from Judd et al. linked in your notes and again here.

There are two parts to this prac class:

a. vegetative morphology

be sure know what a leaf is (how is a leaflet different?)
annotate your manual with notes and drawings to consolidate your understanding of terms that describe: habit, leaf arrangement etc etc

b. reproductive morphology (link to these resources)