Flowers, Fruits, and Seeds: Adventures in Plant Reproductive Biology

Instructor: Dr. Chris Martine, Bucknell University on Zoom

Thursdays: November 3, 10, 17 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm – Registration opens October 6th.

Course Description:

In this short course we’ll discuss the many ways that flowering plants make more of themselves – and why these diverse strategies may be key to understanding the dominance of angiosperms on the planet. What is a flower, anyway? And what is a fruit? And what role have plant-animal interactions like pollination and seed dispersal played in the evolution and success of the plants that have them? 

We’ll talk about plant sexual systems with examples of unusual forms exhibited by plants as local as New Jersey and as far away as Australia. And we’ll discuss the ways that plants deal with the challenge of finding a mate while being stuck in one place. 

Teacher Bio:

Chris Martine is the Burpee Professor at Bucknell University and the current President of the Botanical Society of America. He has published numerous papers on plant reproductive biology, among other topics, and he is the author of the field guides Trees of New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic States and Shrubs and Vines of New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic States. An award-winning public educator, Chris is the host/co-producer of the YouTube series Plants are Cool, Too! and recently released the song Plant People FTW under the artist name Doc Martine and the Botaneers.