Students Spend Minimester Learning About Local Plants

In Professor Bruce Smith’s Minimester 2010 Taxonomy class (which concluded last week), he taught students, from a variety of York College majors, how to identify more than 150 plants on campus and in nearby areas such as the York Heritage Rail Trail and Indian Rock Dam.

“The joy and satisfaction students feel when they know that if they have the right references, they can identify practically anything they find in our local flora, is invaluable,” said Smith, PhD. “Students also learn how to identify unknown plants. The methods I teach them can be obtained in a matter of a few lectures, field trips and labs here on campus.” 

Smith only teaches his Taxonomy class during the minimester and summer session II. “Our campus is the prettiest during the last weeks of the spring and summer months, and that is why I teach it only in the mini-mester and the last 5-week summer session,” he said. 

In Smith’s experience teaching the class, students like Elliott Martin ’11, who will soon be seeking admission to medical school and didn't take the class for credit, enjoy being outdoors and simply want to know the names of the plants.

“I hear from students who took the class more than 30 years ago (and are in every vocation other than outdoor biology) that fondly remember learning about the plants on campus and nearby environs,” he added. 

Pictured: Smith teaches his students about mulberries, which like pineapples, are multiple fruits that develop from the mature ovaries of an entire inflorescence. He also had the opportunity to point out the two local species, the red and white mulberry, Morus rubra, and Morus alba. The students (from l to r) are Erik Deller ’11 (Dover, Pa.), biology major; Ryan O'Donnell ’12 (Phoenixville, Pa.), psychology major; Katelyn Senft ’12, accounting major; Elliot Martin ’11 (Dallastown, Pa.), biology major; Kelsey Cahill ’10 (Pennington, N.J.), behavioral science major and James Meehan ’10 (Mastic, N.Y.), business administration major. Missing in the picture are Sara Vickers ’10 (Airville, Pa.), public relations major, Danielle Bednarczyk ’10 (Bayville, N.J.), business administration major and David Gerritzen ’10 (Williamsport, Pa.), music industry/recording technology major.