In this course, students explore the morphologic and phylogenetic diversity of plants from nonvascular liverworts and mosses to the angiosperms. The lectures, labs, and field trips focus on the evolution of plants in their competition for limited resources and attempts to maximize reproduction. Students will use plants from the region and throughout the world to illustrate diversity in form and function, as well as the relationships between and among plant species and their environment. Human reliance on plants for survival will be a theme in the course. This course includes a lab period.