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Advent Botany 2015 – Christmas Day: The Christmas Cactus
By Alastair Culham My grandfather grew a huge Christmas cactus which flowered regularly every year. It spent the summers in a shady spot in the garden and the winters indoors away from the frost. It...
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Are you an adventurous botanist?
Rock Islands, Palau, Japanese artillery https://www.flickr.com/photos/rapidtravelchai/ If you are an adventurous botanist looking for something new then Windfall Films may have just the thing for you!...
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Congratulations to Maria Christodoulou – Apple ID to PhD
Maria with her thesis and some of her apple images Maria Christodoulou successfully defended her PhD viva voce today with examiners Professor Richard Sibly and Dr Stephen Harris (Oxford). Her spritied...
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Colour with Clusius
Here are seven illustrated pages from Rariorum plantarum historia by Carolus Clusius published in 1601, the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Please colour them in and #Tweet to @RNGherb for...
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Brief notes on some Percival Wheats
The cabinet housing Percival and Helbaeck samples. The University of Reading Herbarium houses a collection of wheat samples collected by John Percival. Some of those samples are archaeological and...
View ArticleMicrosatellite markers for DNA based identification of Narcissus cultivars
The first major refereed paper to emerge from Kalman’s thesis was published online today: MICROSATELLITE MARKERS FOR HOOP-PETTICOAT DAFFODILS (NARCISSUS SECT. BULBOCODII; AMARYLLIDACEAE) Applications...
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Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
The University of Reading Herbarium hosts a fascinating historic collection of ferns amassed by the energetic and well connected Katherine Murray Lyell, wife of Henry Lyell, but also sister-in-law to...
View Article52 Museums – this week on Instagram
The Reading University Museums and Collections are running the 52Museums account on Instagram this week. We are theming entries around the alphabet and will be showcasing artefacts from A to Z. The...
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 16: Raphia: a string for all seasons
By Yvette Harvey RHS Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey, GU23 6QB Raffia hat Forget the gorgeous Madagascan bags, the baskets, the hats, the dates, the coconuts, the wine, the patterned mats and shoes, the...
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 17: Selaginella
By Hans Olav Nymand Denmark’s position in Europe Denmark is a little land in Scandinavia, Northern Europe, but unlike the other Scandinavian countries, we have neither mountains (highest point 172m)...
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 18: The Madonna Lily
By Robbie Blackhall-Miles Mary and the Lilyhttp://allaboutmary.tumblr.com Not realising the hope they give me, through their winter rosettes of green, the bulbs of the Madonna lily (Lilium candidum)...
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 19: Christmas Gourds
By Dawn Bazely Prince Albert, the father of the Victorian Christmas Prince Albert, who moved to England from Germany, to marry the young Queen Victoria, led the Victorians in inventing much of today’s...
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 20: Virgin birth and hidden treasures: unwrapping...
By Katherine Preston & Jeanne Osnas Figs reach their peak in summertime, growing fat enough to split their skins under the hot sun. It’s nearly impossible to keep up with a bountiful tree, and many...
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 21: Cornus mas, the cornelian cherry
By Sophie Mogg Flowers of Cornus mas More commonly known as the cornelian cherry, Cornus mas is a medium-large deciduous tree of the dogwood family. Linnaeus referred to this species as both Cornus mas...
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 22: Crataegus mexicana (Tejocote)
By Megan Lynch A longitudinal cross-section of tejocote fruit Traditions are made by people. We do something at a certain time and then we repeat it when that time rolls around again. There are young...
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Advent Botany – Day 23: Vanilla – nothing plain about this flavour!
By Rachel Webster and Sophie Mogg Vanilla planifolia I’m not one for cream on my Christmas pudding, it just has to be custard or ice cream and so what I’m really admitting to is a love for vanilla....
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 24: Professor Vernon Heywood
By DrM Vernon and Christine Heywood (photo: Stephen Jury) Dr M introduced to #adventbotany this year, #adventbotanists, botanists whose birthdays fall within advent. The first featured Erasmus Darwin a...
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Advent Botany 2016 – Day 25: Erica x darleyensis,
It seems only right to devote the Christmas Day blog for Advent Botany to a plant that has brightened my winter garden for many years, Erica x darleyensis. This hybrid heath was first reported from a...
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Sideritis juryi Holotype
A photograph of the Holotype of Sideritis juryi held at University of Reading Herbarium is shown below. This species was named in honour of Dr Stephen Jury, curator of RNG for many years and now...
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Palm trees in British Gardens
Phoenix canariensis growing in Torbay (CC BY-SA 2.0 Torbay Palms) With the publication of the RHS Gardening in a Changing Climate report raises questions on what will grow well in future british...
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