During this course, students will obtain a comprehensive understanding of the seedless vascular plants (the pteridophytes, including the ferns and fern allies). Within the framework of classification, taxonomy, and evolution, we will dive deeply into studies of life cycles, morphology, basic anatomy, ecology, taxonomy, and nomenclature. We will take daily field trips within the Southern Appalachians to collect, bring back to the laboratory, and identify numerous pteridophyte species. The majority of our time will be spent either collecting in the field or keying species in the laboratory; that is, we will use the exercise of keying collected plants to species and in so doing we will learn the important characters for identifying Southern Appalachian pteridophytes. Students will be encouraged to assemble reference collections and the last hours of the course will be spent assembling these collections. We will use various sources for species identification, but the Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee will be the main key for species identification.