Three hours lecture; three hours laboratory. Prerequisites: BIOL 131 or BIOL 232 or 4 hours of biology or permission of instructor. An interdisciplinary exploration into the vital role plants and plant products play in human society. Throughout recorded history, humans have depended on plants as sources of foods, beverages, herbs and spices, medicinal and recreational drugs, wood and textiles, and other products. Topics may include plant structure, growth, and nutrition; the diversity and evolutionary relationships of organisms traditionally studied by botanists; techniques for growing and producing plant products; plant breeding and genetic modification; and conservation of plant-based resources. Emphasis on the origins, history, morphology and chemistry of plants of economic importance may be considered.