“Lichens are not plants!” I hear you say! So what are lichens doing here on this botanical website?! Well, says Dr M, they are at least half plants! Lichens are a kind of symbiotic union between two very different groups of organisms (different Kingdoms even!) a fungus (Fungi Kingdom) and an algae (Plant Kingdom).
Dr M had planned to put a day aside last term to tidy his office, it didn’t happen! A tidy desk is a great motivator allegedly, so what does that mean for Dr M who has always seen himself as a bit of a Dr M-otivator!? Albert Einstein and Roald Dahl had messy desks! That’s good surely?!
Dr M’s MSc New Year Plant Hunt (borrowed from the idea by BSBI) took place on Tuesday 14th January 2014. Three groups of MSc students walked the University of Reading Whiteknights campus for 1 hour each in the chilly sunshine collecting any plant in flower and these were taken back to the lab and identified
Dr M loves it when his students work gets published! Last month it happened again when Amy Denness had her MSc Plant Diversity dissertation work on the taxonomy of the non-native invasive species Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) published.
2013 was drmgoeswild.com’s first Christmas and he got so excited hanging up his botanical stockings and all, awe bless! Launched in April/May 2013 drmgoeswild.com took off (viewing wise) in the Summer and has grown steadily since, now receiving around 3000 views per month.
‘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.
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!
“Botany is just the best “B” word we have“, Dr M tells the delegates at the BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting at the Natural History Museum, 23rd November 2013.
Even if you were present at Dr M’s presentation at the afternoon talks of the BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting on Saturday 23rd November you will have missed Dr M’s presentation!
Dr M spoke at the BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting at the Natural History Museum, London on Saturday, 23rd November.