This course will explore the nearly EPS 500-million-year history of green plants on land. We will cover the origin of terrestrial plants and their subsequent structural and ecological diversification on land. The course will tell the story of land plants through several major themes, including evolutionary relationships among living and fossil groups, structural innovations in land plant bodies, the evolution of complex reproductive strategies, and the interactions among geology, climate, and land plant communities.
3 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
This course will explore the nearly 500-million-year history of green plants on land. We will cover the origin of terrestrial plants and their subsequent structural and ecological diversification on land. The course will tell the story of land plants through several major themes, including evolutionary relationships among living and fossil groups, structural innovations in land plant bodies, the evolution of complex reproductive strategies, and the interactions among geology, climate, and land plant communities.
Offered in Winter 2026 at Stanford University.