Ever trod on a plant, caught a whiff of its smell and wondered: why do plants smell? Well, wonder no more, Dr M has just the thing for you: the University of Reading “Why are plants smelly” outreach project – part of University of Reading’s (UoR) contribution to British Science Week (March 2019) and 5th International “Fascination of Plants Day” (May 2019). These events also
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It’s time to revisit this Dr M classic – the Twelve Days of Botanical Christmas! (First broadcast in December 2014!)
YOUR STARTER FOR TEN: The first ever UK Botanical University Challenge took place at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, hosted by James Wong, on 10th March 2016 you can read more about it here. FINGERS ON BUZZERS! We are now getting very close to the second Challenge which takes place at the University of Reading on Wednesday 20th February 2019 and is the
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It’s no secret that Dr M is raving potty about Poaceae so imagine his delight when he saw the new and wonderful @Wildflowerhour also getting into the Poaceous groove with their #grasschallenge! This time of year (June) is truly wondrous for Poaceae (but not hay fever sufferers!) as the vegetative shoots spring into action and come alive with flowering inflorescences bearing those strange yet magical
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The twelve images from Dr M’s previous post celebrating International Fascination of Plants Day 2017 (here) represent twelve of the things plants do for us and Dr M spells these out below. For sure, there are many more than twelve things plants do for us, but this is a great starting point for appreciating the fascination and importance of plants in all our lives
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Did you know it’s “Fascination of Plants Day” (FoPD) on Thursday 18th May? Fascination of Plants Day is the International Day for everyone to celebrate the fascination and beauty of the plant world and the importance of plants in our lives and for the sustainability of the biosphere! 2017 finds the fourth international Fascination of Plants Day launched under the umbrella of the European
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Dr M says: Can you believe it? #AdventBotany is now entering it’s 3rd year and is the festive botanical one to watch! Indeed it seems only yesterday Dr M was singing the Twelve days of botany and together with his colleague Dr Alastair Culham (@BotanyRNG) invented Advent Botany – 31 inspired nuggets of botanical peace, love and joy posted here and at Culham Research Group and dispersed across the
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Dr M says: It’s that time of year again! Last year’s University of Reading MSc Plant Diversity students (class of 2016 pictured above) are just about finishing their dissertations and we are already wishing them well as they get ready to move on to botanical pastures new, while the class of 2017 are soon to be on their way to Reading for a new exciting
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So you’re walking through the grass and at the edge, where it’s all trampled, there’s this yellow clover, or is it, and is it only one? Well in Britain we have at least four common yellow flowered small to medium clover-like plants. Although they all have trifoliate leaves (three leaflets) they are not called clover, at least the commonest common names are not clover
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Did you have a go at Dr M’s antidote to Brexit 52% leaves quiz? If not try it out here and come back to check the answers below. Below are the images of the 52 leaves with common names (check the table below for the Latin names and the plant families). Dr M says: How did you do? There is a diverse range of native and non native
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