Horticultural Plants

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject covers:

• taxonomic approaches to plant description and morphology (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits);
• plant habit and lifecycles,
• the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and the Code for Cultivated Plants;
• use and application of plant recognition characters for identification; and
• study of horticultural plants in groups based on habit, lifecycle and taxonomic approaches.

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• recognise a group of plants commonly used in landscape horticulture; correctly write their botanical, common and family names and describe plant type and form;
• write plant names in accordance with the ICBN (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature) and the ICNP (International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants);
• identify and describe the main morphological features of stems, leaves, roots, flowers and fruits;
• determine the floral formula for a species; and use these plant recognition characters to identify a plant using a taxonomic key.

Two 90-minute written examinations (one mid-semester and one final) each worth 20% of the final mark; one written assignment equivalent to 2,500 words and worth 25% of the final mark; exercises and practical work submitted during the semester equivalent to 3,500 words and worth 35% of the final mark.

Attendance at laboratory sessions, tutorials, plant walks and field excursions is compulsory.

Plant Morphology Manual 2012 (available from the Burnley Campus Reception)

Clarke, I. & Lee, H. 2009 Name that flower; The identification of flowering plants, 2nd edn. Melbourne University Press, Carlton.
Spencer, R., Cross, R. & Lumley, P. 2007 Plant names: A guide to botanical nomenclature 3rd edn. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.