‘Tis the season for jolly party games and Dr M is proud to present the World eXclusive botanical party game: eXtreme Carpology: seeds, fruits and flowers! Created for the BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting in November 2013 by Christine and Waheed, two of Dr M’s Plant Diversity MSc students at University of Reading.

Dr M thought it about time he went Christmas shopping. At least that was his plan! But it was absolutely shocking! You see, Dr M is very much out of his comfort zone in the town, there is so little Poaceae around for a start! OK a sprig of Poa annua here and there, but that apart, almost nothing for ages! And certainly not worth going into the Mall,
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A frost in Reading this morning but no snow, and seasonally it still feels very much like autumn rather than winter. Coupled with this, all the forecasts suggest it will be too mild for snow in England and South Wales where Dr M will be this Christmas period. But wouldn’t it be nice to see some snow, just a little, to get us into
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Dr M has previously posted reviews of the two indispensable eXtreme botanical books: the veg key and the book of Stace. The eXtreme botanist just cannot be without these on their shelves. But also important are the illustrated plant ID guides to supplement the advanced ID books. You need to be able to check determinations against descriptions of the plant in the floras but also
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So, have you mown the lawn for the last time before Christmas? Well, if, like Dr M your answer is no, then, like Dr M, no doubt you can be found gazing guiltily out of the window at a scruffy, soggy mat of grasses, covered in equally soggy, manky leaves and praying for snow to hide it all away!

Can you recognise the commonest plant species in Britain? Dr M has previously posted the 30 most common British plant species based on data in the New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora and the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora.

Dr M is particularly fond of mosses and was delighted to find on the British Bryological Society Facebook page a link to this Moss in Nature Competition from Digital Photography Review.

Dr M is developing a new botanical business concept – eXtreme bryology meets artistic floristry and the result is Bryo-Logical Floristry!

Dr M’s occasional series highlights personages well known for various remarkable feats but whose eXtreme botanical skills are not so well known! Number 1 in this series is Shakespeare, the Immortal Bard, famous for his poetry and plays but less so for his botanical skills!  

Dr M is always on the look our for useful resources for teaching an learning plant ID and recently he discovered (belatedly, for it has been around since 2009!) an illustrated manual by Lena Struwe, Associate Professor in the School of Enviromental and Biological Sciences and Director of the Chrysler Herbarium (CHRB) at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.