Assignment 1

FIRST SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT This is your first special assignment for Plant Biology. First, select a topic from the list that begins on the second page. Second, send me an E-mail requesting that topic. If you’re the first person to request the topic, I will acknowledge that fact, and you can use it for your paper. If not, you will have to select another topic and send me another E-mail message. The best thing to do is to send me a list of three possible topics, and I will inform you if one of those is available and you can use it. The last day you can request a topic is March 13, 2017! The assignment itself involves writing a short paper of at least 500 words on the topic in question. Papers should be double-spaced and submitted to me as a hard copy (i.e., printed out). You should obtain information for the paper from at least three sources (typically, the web or books), and these should be listed at the end of your paper. The paper is due on or before March 17, 2017.

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TOPICS FOR THE FIRST SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT

Fungi that form endomycorrhizal associations Fungi that form ectomycorrhizal associations Nitrogen-fixing plants Dendroecology Bristlecone pine Examples of Arkansas plants with bulbs Plants with cladophylls Ginkgo biloba Cellular slime molds Plants of Arkansas with spines or prickles Commercial mushroom Plants with floral leaves (bracts) Dandelion Succulent plants Giant water lily Bladderworts Fall coloration (trees) in eastern North America Sundews Research carried out by Melvin Calvin History of wine-making Oldest trees in eastern North America Perfumes derived from plants Indian pipe Dyes derived from plants The first plants to invade the land Earliest evidence of life in the fossil record Plants with abundant aerenchyma 2

Plants that produce latex Plants with pneumatophores Aerial roots Non-green vascular plants Photosynthetic bacteria The tallest trees in the world Pitcher plants of eastern North America Arkansas plants with a whorled leaf arrangement Trillium in Arkansas Polypores Edible wild plants in Arkansas Ponderosa pine Evolutionary origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts Quaking aspen Horsetails and scouring rushes Red spruce in eastern North America Pathogenic yeasts Russula Making paper from wood Bald cypress in Arkansas Toxic plants found in Arkansas Amanita muscaria Giant bamboo Mistletoe in Arkansas Tree ferns

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