Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Spring Semester 2026

Southern Utah Flora (Face-to-Face)

BIOL 2050-01

Course: BIOL 2050-01
Credits: 3
Term: Spring Semester 2026
Department: BIOL
CRN: 12685

Course Description

An introduction to the native plant populations of the intermountain region and the interaction of humans, animals, and other environmental factors with the plant kingdom. Students travel to a different regional ecosystem each week and learn the major plant species, discuss the historical and modern uses of plant species by man, and observe integrated effects of ecological environmental dilemmas. Students prepare personal plant resource books containing identification, historical, and ecological data on each plant observed. Recommended for non-majors, teaching, and biology majors. One five-hour field excursion per week. May be repeated for credit if taken at different seasons. A minimum grade of "C" (2.0 or above) must be earned in this course before it can be counted in a biological science major or minor or as a prerequisite for any other biology course. (Fall, Spring, Summer) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll General Education Category: Life Sciences

Required Texts

There is no required text for the course.
Recommended supplementary texts:
Botany in a Day, by Thomas Elpel.
Woody Plants of Utah, A Field Guide with Identification Keys to Native and Naturalized Trees, Shrubs, Cacti, and Vines. Van Buren et al. 2011. Utah State University Press.
There are about a zillion other field guides you can find either for our area or for the western U.S. in general. Often these focus on the floras from one of the multiple distinct ecosystems of our area: Mojave desert, Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, or Wasatch Mountains. This is both the advantage and disadvantage of where we live – there are many cool ecosystems close by, but they all have slightly different floras. For the spring semester class, a field guide focused on the Mojave is probably most useful.
A Utah Flora, 5th edition, by Welsh et al.
If you really want to get into plant ID using dichotomous keys, this book is the standard for Utah. Not for the faint of heart – there are no pictures and botanical jargon abounds – but ultimately very rewarding.
Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, by Gregory Tilford
A great resource if you are interested in the ethnobotanical side of the plants we will be seeing.

Web resources:
Southwest Colorado Wildflowers website: www.swcoloradowildflowers.com
 Very good coverage for our area and taxonomically up-to-date. An excellent resource.
A cool website that can generate plant lists on the fly for a given locality and time of year. Another awesome resource.
iNaturalist is a social media website for naturalists. You can upload photos of your observations and help ID observations from other users. A great way to get to know your local flora and fauna.

Also highly recommended: a 10x or higher hand lens (“jeweler’s loupe”). Note there is a trade-off between strength of magnification and diameter of field of view, so that higher magnification isn’t always better. I use a 10x and it works great. You can find a decent one on Amazon for under $10.

Learning Outcomes

  • Learn to recognize characteristics of the most common taxonomic groups of the southern Utah flora.
  • Learn terminology relating to plant vegetative and reproductive morphology.
  • Understand the role of abiotic and biotic factors in shaping plant communities found in our region.

Course Requirements

Assessment:
Your final grade is based on:
  • Field notebook (30%)
  • Weekly plant quizzes based on observations from the previous week (40%)
  • Final project (30%)

Field notebook:
Please use an unlined notebook to take field notes on the plants we observe – this will help the information we cover on our field trips to stick better. Each outing should have notes on at least five plants – including line drawings of whole plants or branches, leaf characteristics including leaf margins and phyllotaxy, and flowers/fruits/cones. Also include written notes based on what we discuss for each plant.

Plant quizzes:
Each week we will have a brief quiz on identifying plants from the previous week. Generally I will provide a picture and a list of characteristics and ask you to ID the plant. I will compile a plant checklist after each field trip, indicating in bold the species that are fair game for next week’s quiz. It is your responsibility to pay attention during the field trips and to seek out information in between classes on these plants in preparation for the quiz.

Final project:
For your final project in Southern Utah Flora, you will work in groups of 3-4 to produce a video presentation on a plant family or genus of interest to you from the local flora. I will let you self-select your project groups if you’d like, so during the first few weeks of class, start thinking about who you might like to work with.

Course Outline

Date & Topic
Feb 26  Introduction to Southern Utah Flora; vegetation zones; abiotic factors. Campus walk
Mar 5  Great Basin/Mountain flora: Hidden Haven Trail, Parowan, UT.
Mar 12  Spring Break, no class
Mar 19  Mojave flora: Beaver Dam Wash/Beaver Dam Mtns, AZ.
Mar 26  Upper Mojave: Chuckwalla Trail, St. George, UT.
Apr 2  Upper Mojave: Lower Red Reef Trail, Leeds, UT.
Apr 9  Mojave/Great Basin transition: Vortex trail, Gunlock, UT.
Apr 16  Great Basin flora: Spring Canyon, Kanarraville, UT.

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Assignments handed in late will be docked 10% of the total possible value of the assignment per day, starting at the time the assignment is due to be handed in.

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance on every field trip is key for a class that only meets once per week for only half of the semester (seven total class meetings). If you are unable to attend for an acceptable reason (at my discretion), let me know ahead of time and I will give you a make-up assignment. It will not be possible to make up an unexcused absence. After the first week, we will meet at 1 pm at the SUU motor pool (1175 W 200 S) – do not arrive late! You may miss the trip!

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.