Morphological Section

Plant species of very different phylogenetic ancestry sometimes develop very similar characteristic adaptations despite a lack of kinship, if the ecological influences of their environments are alike. The characteristic features can be typified in plant construction plans and classified as plant functional types (PFTs) with regard to functional interactions with the environment. While plant-plant interactions and interactions between plants and abiotic environment occur, a focus here is on plant-animal interactions and plant-mircoorganism interactions, such as adaptations for flower pollination, seed dispersal, defense against herbivores, parasitism, exploitation of animals as food sources, or protection of the plant by animals from herbivores. Special forms of known tree species planted on the margins of this area indicate that characteristic trait expressions can also occur through sudden spontaneous mutation and can survive through vegetative propagation as long as they are not fatal to the plant.

The morphological section is planned to be complemented by a smell and touch garden. The new section will be placed right next to the educational garden, in order to promote complementary learning and working by children’s groups, school groups, and collaborators of the Department of Biology Didactics, in addition to uses in the garden therapy project in the mentioned garden sections.