Corsi di studio in
Farmacia - Chimica e tecnologia farmaceutiche

Pharmaceutical Botany
Prof. Maria Laura Colombo
Credits : 7 on lecture + 2 in the lab

This is a course that combines plant anatomy and plant morphology. The course covers development of primary and secondary tissues, and structure of vegetative and reproductive organs with emphasis on Angiosperms.
Objective of this part of the program is :
* to provide students with skills necessary to section and stain fresh plant material in preparation for study of plant anatomy;
* to train students in the proper use of the compound light microscope and to give them experience in interpreting images that they see through the microscope in terms of how plant structure is related to function.
The course continues with introduction to plant morphology including eukaryotic algae, fungi, bryophytes, and vascular plants. Emphasis is on comparative morphology and life cycles. This course covers basic and contemporary systematic principles and methods as applied to vascular plants, including classification, identification, phylogenetics, molecular approaches, and surveys of important families of major groups of flowering plants via lectures and lab practice. Students are expected to achieve the following objectives after successfully completing the course: describe a plant using botanical terms, identify a plant using the key mechanics, recognize large and common families of flowering plants, interpret plant relationships depicted on phylogenetic trees with proper terms, demonstrate knowledge in the current understanding of angiosperm phylogeny and evolution.
Students make a personal herbarium of the plants. Herbaria are the fundamental source of information for the identification and classification of plants and represent the backbone of taxonomic knowledge and thus of all disciplines in need of communicating about plants. The herbarium preparation aims to: 1) provide students a broad understanding of the history of herbaria and their role in the context of the taxonomic process; 2) introduce students to the principles and methods of modern herbarium management and collections-based science; and 3) provide students the knowledge and skills to become proficient in curatorial techniques.

The Pharmaceutical Botany program offers one-day excursion to observe wild medicinal plant in a protected alpine area and one-day excursion to have a survey on medicinal and aromatic plants cultivation in Northern Italy.

Evaluation of students will be based on exams (7 credits on lecture and 2 on lab).


Textbook of primary consultation
E.Maugini, L.Bini Maleci, M.Mariotti Lippi (2006) Manuale di Botanica Farmaceutica, parte seconda. Piccin Ed. Padova, Italia