MEDICAL BOTANY
The ways plants affect human health, including both helpful and harmful roles. Examine plant chemicals to understand both their roles in plants and how they may act in the human body as drugs or toxins. Topics include the use of poisonous, psychoactive, and other medicinal plants in indigenous cultures and in modern and alternative medicine.
Topics
- the use of poisonous
- psychoactive
- and other medicinal plants in indigenous cultures and in modern and alternative medicine
Topics explicitly listed in official catalogue description
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: ( BOTANY 100 , BOTANY/BIOLOGY 130 , ZOOLOGY/BIOLOGY/BOTANY 152 , BOTANY 240 , or BIOCORE 383 ) and ( CHEM 103 , CHEM 108 , CHEM 109 , or CHEM 115 ) or graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Natural Science & Wellness + Lab Breadth - Biological Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Summer 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Provide examples of plant species that cause medical conditions in animals and humans. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Provide examples of ways that plant-derived products are used in modern medicine and their modes of action. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Discuss the evolutionary and ecological roles of medicinal phytochemicals in the context of plant physiology. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Contrast the cultural importance and roles of plants and plant-derived compounds in modern, traditional, and alternative medicine. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Prepare a scientifically accurate presentation on a topic in medicinal botany grounded in the primary literature. Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Provide examples of plant species that cause medical conditions in animals and humans. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Provide examples of ways that plant-derived products are used in modern medicine and their modes of action. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Discuss the evolutionary and ecological roles of medicinal phytochemicals in the context of plant physiology. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Contrast the cultural importance and roles of plants and plant-derived compounds in modern, traditional, and alternative medicine. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Prepare a scientifically accurate presentation on a topic in medicinal botany grounded in the primary literature. Audience: Graduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027