Authors: Gideon Bowes
Mentors: Michael Rotter
Insitution: Utah Valley University
Correctly identifying plants in the field can be a daunting task. Making an accurate ID typically requires one to understand a complex lexicon of terminology, possess a level of inherent taxonomic understanding, and have the know-how to traverse complex dichotomous keys and species descriptions. This process often necessitates an array of resources, including large hardbound texts, online references, and stand-alone glossaries of terms. In order to better meet the demands of beginning botanists, we created the Field Manual of the Utah Valley Flora Project. This project includes students taking botany classes at Utah Valley University and tasks them with creating botanical treatments to the plants growing in the Utah County vicinity. The students’ treatments are curated with the objective of providing descriptions that are usable by their peers. Here, we present an example of how treatments are composed using the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and data regarding the efficacy of this project with regard to course learning objectives. The goal of this project is to simplify the identification process by producing a student-written, comprehensive text that is user-friendly and accessible to the beginning botany student.