Judy Schmalstig asked, "Does anyone know of good texts for teaching plant
diveristy to undergraduates at the sophomore level?"
We use Kingsley Stern's "Introductory Plant Biology" 7th Ed. WCBrown ISBN
0-697-25773-8 in our 2-quarter introductory plant biology course for
non-majors, mostly freshmen and sophomores. It doesn't have enough
chemistry for our course and some students find the prose difficult
(perhaps they would also complain about any other biology textbook!) but
one of the text's best features is the treatment of life cycles in the
diversity chapters. The coverage is thorough and accurate for the Plant
Kingdom and also includes Kingdoms Monera, Protoctista, and Fungi (not
Animalia). I especially appreciate the way the life cycles are drawn in
the same format... fertilization on the left, meiosis on the right, diploid
generation above (and colored green), haploid generation below (and colored
brown), etc. It is much easier for students to see the similarities and
differences of various organisms when the formats are identical. The
drawings and photos of organisms and habitats are also very nice.
WCBrown Publishers can be reached at 1-800-228-0459
Dr. David W. Kramer
Department of Plant Biology
Ohio State University at Mansfield
1680 University Drive
Mansfield, OH 44906
(419) 755-4344 FAX: (419) 755-4367
e-mail: kramer.8 at osu.edu
