One plant will be given to each student to take care of as an extra credit project for the semester.

Journalizing:
        1. Keep a journal that records the growth, flowering, and (hopefully not) the death of your plant.
        2. The longer you keep your plant alive this semester, the better your journal project will turn out.  If you hand in a journal that simply states ‘plant died’, then you will not get 10 points for the
            journal.
        3. Be creative!  Some suggestions for your journal notebook:
                a. use a permanently bound notebook as your journal.
                b. use loose-leaf paper gathered by a plastic report cover.
                c. use the creative ‘scrap booking’ style and make your own notebook!
                d. your imagination is the limit! Have Fun!
        4. Use color pencils, color prints, or color photographs to document your plant's progress.

Accurate Observations:
        1. Keen observation is the key to successful science explorations. Twice a week, observe your plant and make notes on plant characteristics such as differences in height (how tall is your plant at
            day 8…day 10 etc.), leaf shape (what different leaf shapes occur), leaf color, and number of flowers (if any).
        2. To organize your data, you can set up a small spreadsheet table recording some of the potential changes in these plant characteristics.
        3. Make notes on potential problems you encounter (yellowing leaves, wilting, insect attack…. etc) and solutions you tried to reverse these life threatening problems.
        4. Did any of the solutions tried actually reverse the problem? Even if there are no apparent problems, is there some change that may make the plant grow better?  Try it.
        5. Be sure to incorporate pictures, drawings or graphs to clarify observations described in the text of your journal.

Communicating your observations:
        1. Written explanation is essential.  Make sure you write your observations or findings in your journal along with any pictures or tables that you might have.

Extra Credit Grade Points:
        1. 5 points of extra credit will be available on each exam from questions pertaining to your plant.
        2. Another 10 points of extra credit will be based upon the quality and accuracy of your final plant journal project.
        3. All completed journals are due in class on the last day of classes (May 13th).
        4. See syllabus for course grade details.

Additional helpful information:
    Care of house plants
        List of Sites on Houseplant Care and Problems-LookSmart
        General plant care guide
        Indoor houseplant problems and solutions
        Plant Diseases- has chart of susceptibility for specific plants
        Growing conditions for house plants- has chart listing plants by scientific name
        Growing conditions for houseplants- listed in chart by name
        Brown tips on leaves-Univ. of Arizona brochure
        Plant Propagation links- share your plant with others!

    What's in a name?
Botanical dictionary- look up the Latin names of the plant- why were they chosen? Hint- if a whole word does not produce a hit, use parts of the word - the parts are often linked together to describe the plant. The first word in the latin name is the genus- so the description would apply to the group of plants to which this plant is very closely related.  The species name is the second name, so this word would be chosen to describe this plant in particular ( Some examples , more here where you don't have to search). Some species are named after the person who officially discovered the plant (e.g. Tolmiea, see below).

See if there is a common name for the plant in different languages:
Genera A-BGenera C-EGenera F-PeGenera Pf-Z
Origin of common names of some herbs  Description of naming and latin endings
 

PLANTS
click on picture for a larger image

Agleonema pictum 
Description and care
Production guide-for commercial growers but useful for growth conditions and problems
Agleonema page
Belongs to the aroid family-description of this family
 

Bryophyllum daigromontianum - Good Luck Plant, Mother of Thousands 
Description
Related species
What to do with all those plantlets that fall off?Experiment to test toxicity of compounds
 

Chlorophytum cumosum-Spider Plant 
LookSmart Category- Spider Plant
 
 

Crassula argentea-Jade Plant 
LookSmart Category -Jade Plant
Cactus and succulent care  also care of insect pests

    Sites about Crassula in general
     Growing Crassulas
     Description of Crassula cultivation
     Cactus and succulent care also care of insect pests
 

Cryptanthus acaulis- earthstar 
Cryptanthus picture gallery- different speciesmore species here
Cultivation

Echinopus eyriesii- Easter Lily cactus cactus 
Care of cactus in the home
Description and pictures of different Echinopus species
Outdoor growth characteristics
Chemical in cactus-hydroxy dimethyls PEA similar to that found in chocolate- description of its psychoactive effects- compare to mescaline
Cactus society- Maryland Chapter
Cactus and succulent care  also care of insect pests

Euphorbia tirucalli -pencil plant 
Make more plants from cuttings-good for all succulents
Description
Ecology, Chemistry, Folk uses etc
Cactus and succulent care  also care of insect pests
 Watch out for irritation from the sap!- toxicity
            North Carolina poisonous plant info
        Use of the sap for anticancer treatment

Ficus benjamina varigata - Benjamin Fig 
LookSmart- Many Links for Ficus
Leaves dropping?- a common problem, Here too
Cultivation
Caution- an irritant
A good tree for indoor bonsai
Production guide- technical but useful for problems

Hedera helix-English Ivy 
LookSmart category- Ivy
 

Hypocyrta glabra - Clog plant (after the shape of the flower) 
Updated Genus is Nematanthus
Picture of flowering plant and description
Belongs to the Gesnariads - other gesnariads
                     -Gesnariad references
                     -Gesnariad Society- Greater Washinton D.C. Chapter

Kalanchoe tomentosa- Panda Plant 
Description and picture
Care suggestions
Cactus and succulent care  also care of insect pests

Opuntia microdasys (or rutida)- Bunny ears cactus 
Care of cactus in the home
Hungry- eating pads of Opuntia but check the species
Description
Cactus society- Maryland Chapter
Cactus and succulent care  also care of insect pests

Peperomia obtusifolia 
Description of genus and care
Production guide-for commercial growers but useful for growth conditions and problems
The Peperomia Page
Description of origins, photos, care- the peperomia net
Thick leaves- see this cross section of leaf

Philodendron scandens- Heart-leaf Philodendron (right in picture) 
Care and problems
Botany.com description
Short history of cultivation
Air-cleaning abilities
Care- Lowes.com
Growing tips
Care and description of different species
Caution- sap is an irritant- Univ. of Maryland Medicine page
LookSmart- Philodendron links
Belongs to the aroid family-description of this family

Podocarpus macorophyllus -Buddist Pine 
Description of plant , also here
Toxicity- berries
Picture and description of this plant when grown outdoors in a warmer climate
Care and description of use as a bonsai

Sansevieria hahnii- Snake Plant   right: S. hahnii var. variegata
Description of plant
Growing tips
Production guide-for commercial growers but useful for growth conditions and problems

Scindapsus aureus-Pothos 
LookSmart Category- Pothos
Production guide-for commercial growers but useful for growth conditions and problems
Poisonous plant- notes here- sap can irritate skin or eyes, leaves poisonous to eat

Sedum 

top,  Sedum morganianum- burro's tail
bottom,Sedum
Sedum Society Page- Resource links at bottom of page
Use in landscaping- xeroscaping
Cactus and succulent care  also care of insect pests

Stapella - species not determined - Carrion flower,starfish flower 
Pictures of different specie's flowers- Different gallery - can you identify yours?
Cultivation
Description

Syngonium podophyllum (also called Nephthytis podophyllum) -goosefoot 
Culture
Production guide- for commercial growers but useful for growth conditions and problems
Disease symptoms and treatments
Growing tips
Belongs to the aroid family-description of this family
Plant is poisonous- notes on this- watch out for your cats

Tolmiea menziesii  - Piggyback plant, youth on age plant 
Description
Caution-irritant
Description
Origin of name and problems you may encounter
Culture
 
 

Last revised: January 20, 2003