Intro Level : Plant Family Patterns : The Key to See with Marc Williams

Plant family patterns can greatly aid in demystifying the “green wall” of species around us. The scientific community has identified close to 400,000 plant species in the world. These species have been grouped into over 400 plant families. Around 200 flowering plant families grow in the places where it annually frosts and or freezes. You will know something significant about the majority of plants that you see in such locales if you learn the top 30 families around you. It is often possible to guess whether a plant is edible, medicinal, or poisonous simply by the family it occupies. However, some exceptions are important to know as well. We will engage in a walk and talk around the Woodson Branch grounds where we will delve into some of the major plant families of the Southern USA. Students will hone identification skills by observing family patterns such as leaf, flower and fruit types. Uses including edibility, medicinality, craft, wildlife promotion and landscape beauty will be discussed. Participants will gain a basic understanding of the major plants in the Southern US and their potential ecological and ethnobotanical applications.