BOTANY SERIES
Fungi and Plants
Professor Karen Snetselaar

This course is co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The lectures will be given at the PHS offices, 100 N. 20th Street (20th and Arch Streets), Philadelphia.

LECTURES BEGIN AT 6:30 PM

  1. Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - Introduction to the Fungi
    Fungi are similar to plants because their cells have walls, and for many years they were grouped with plants. However, more recent studies indicate that fungi are actually more closely related to animals.
  2. Monday, January 25, 2010 - Groups of Fungi
    The classification of fungi is an area of active research, and there have been many changes in recent years. We’ll briefly discuss the major groups of fungi and the characteristics that separate them.
  3. Monday, February 1, 2010 - Fungal Diseases of Plants -- Leaves, Fruits, and Seeds
    Fungi cause billions of dollars in losses to agricultural crops every year. We will talk about a few of the main diseases of agronomic plants caused by fungi.
  4. Monday, February 8, 2010 - Soil Fungi
    Fungi are important decomposers in soils, especially in rich soils like those we want in our gardens. Having the “right” fungi present in soils can promote plant health, and we’ll talk about how gardeners can use “suppressive soils” to minimize disease problems.
  5. Monday, February 15, 2010 - Mycorrhizae
    The majority of plants have beneficial fungi in and around their roots. The roots and fungi together constitute a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, and both partners benefit from this amazing collaboration.
  6. Monday, February 22, 2010 - Stinkhorns, Puffballs, Fairy Rings and Dog’s Vomit Fungus
    These are just a few of the organisms that show up in gardens, lawns and flowerbeds. They often cause consternation, but in reality they live on decaying materials and don’t harm plants. And some of them look amazing! 

The fungi constitute an entire kingdom of organisms, just as plants and animals do but they are far less well known. Some experts have suggested that there may be 10 times more fungal species than plant species. Because there are so many different kinds of fungi, and many are microscopic, just identifying them is a challenge. This course will look at a few groups of fungi that are particularly important to plants and to people who are interested in plants. It will discuss fungi that promote plant growth and that cause disease.

Recommended reading:

“The Fifth Kingdom,” by Bryce Kendrick.

Some of the text for this engaging treatment, along with many pictures, can be found at the author’s website: http://www.mycolog.com/fifthtoc.html. The text can be purchased in print or electronic form from that site.

Students will have access to a course website with links to lectures presented as well as to other sources of information about fungi.   

Owing to space limitations, this course requires preregistration. Preregistration will begin on Monday, November 16, 2009.  To preregister, call 215-763-6529, ext. 23.

 

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