A MOOC in plant identification and field botany…?
Dr M has a dream: The University of Reading has just launched a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in plant identification and field botany…
A suitable case for the eXtreme botanist!
OK, so you find this plant on abandoned railway sidings in West London. It looks like Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) but the leaves are all wrong, they are very thin, even grass-like, alternate and clasping the stem. The flower books are not a lot of help and none of the illustrations looks anything like it.
Marvellous Mosses!
Autumn brings eXtreme botanical challenges of the bryophyte variety: mosses flourish and become especially luxuriant in the wet autumnal weather and it is an ideal time to renew and refresh our acquaintance with these marvellous little plants!
Autumnal challenges for the eXtreme botanist!
Leaves are turning beautiful shades of yellow, orange, red and brown and are falling from the trees – aided and abetted by the winds, there can be no denying autumn is here!
Carpels, pistil, ovary, ovules, Uncle Tom Cobley and all!
To key plant families, for example using the Book of Stace, it is very important to understand the structure of the flower very precisely, how many perianth whorls (e.g. petals and sepals), how many stamens (male parts – the androecium) and how many carpels, stigmas, and so on (female parts – the gynoecium).
Identifying British plant families: Dr M’s top family cameos – Asteraceae
Dr M has already posted on the top 20 UK plant families and the series is on-going. Here Dr M continues a series of cameos on a selection of these families together with his top tips for family recognition. Asteraceae: the Daisy or Dandelion or Composite or Aster family. A large and diverse family but the really key feature is the composite inflorescence. Yes, those
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Tools of the eXtreme botanists trade 4: the RNG herbarium
Dr M is very fond of taking his students into the University of Reading Herbarium to demonstrate the role of the modern herbarium in teaching, research and consultancy.
Identifying British plant families: Dr M’s top family cameos – Fabaceae
Dr M is teaching the top 20 UK plant families and, as regular followers of drmgoeswild.com will know, he has already posted in some detail on a number of these families and the series is on-going. Here Dr M provides starts a short series of cameos on a selection of these families with top tips for family recognition. Fabaceae: the Pea or Legume family.
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Dr M’s students create a living botanical glossary
Twenty-six botanists from Dr M’s Vegetation Survey and Assessment MSc class have produced the first ever living botanical glossary known to science (unless, of course, you know better?!).
Dr M talks British tree identification: show me the colour of your buds
As regular visitors will know, Dr M is currently teaching British tree identification in his Vegetation Survey and Assessment module on the MSc Plant Diversity and MSc Species Identification and Survey Skills. Amongst the features which help in putting a name to a tree include the twigs, leaves and buds. Buds come in all shapes and sizes and colours, all can be helpful for ID.