Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Plant material identification skills are basic to all parts of the horticulture/landscape industry. The focus is on deciduous trees and shrubs which exhibit fall interest. In this course students are required to identify plant materials by both botanical (scientific) and common names. All of the plants studied are used in landscapes in the Pacific Northwest.
 

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Identify and discuss deciduous landscape plants in the field based on botanical characteristics.
2. Communicate about plant taxa by using Latin binomials and common names.
3. Match plants to site conditions based on cultural requirements.
4. Organize plants into groupings based on cultural requirements, size, and form.

The Instructor prepares hands-on labs/plant walks before class (e.g. find sites, verifies plants). During the lab period, the Instructor teaches plant identification skills through active lecture/demonstrations in real time at each specimen plant. Students observe plants and add notes, sketches, photos to their plant lab notebook. In addition to their lab notebooks, students develop a comprehensive database of the plants studied (including identification and culture information) organized into functional groups. The databases are submitted and the Instructor evaluates the reports outside of class time - providing a score and feedback on technical accuracy and completeness.

Student learning is assessed by:

Plant identification quizzes in the field (3-4 per term)

A written exam at the end of the term that tests

A final plant identification exam in the field

Evaluation of the course project (Electronic Plant Reference)

• Field Identification of 100 - 110 plants
• Plant Information
  • Botanical and Common Names
  • Family
  • Plant Type
  • Form
  • Growth Rate
  • Mature and Landscape Sizes
  • Physical Characteristics
  • Exposure
  • Soil Requirement
  • Water Requirement
  • Diseases and Pests
  • Propagation
  • Landscape Use