Author: Alan ElliottPage 2 of 3

Currently working on the World Flora Online and Global Conservation Consortium for Rhododendron.

The name changes but the plant remains the same…

A recently published nomenclatural paper in the Nordic Journal of Botany looks like a precursor for the tranfer of Pulsatilla (Pasque Flowers) as a genus to a section…

Sutton’s vasculum of grasses and seeds

A conversation in the canteen about a 19th wheat specimen from Nepal led on to Henry Noltie asking if I had seen the amazing box of grasses. The…

Rosularia muratdaghensis

I recieved a request from a member of the Scottish Rock Garden Club from the Czech Republic interested in seeing an image of a plant we have growing…

Flora of Nepal BRD data online

It has now been over  4 months since we returned to Edinburgh after the successful botancial exploration of Baglung, Rukum and Dolpa districts for the Flora of Nepal…

Flora of Nepal Expedition 2014. Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam).

We all know this plant too well from colonising river banks, cycle paths and becoming an increasing problem in as an invasive plant in the UK. Its native…

Flora of Nepal expedition 2014 – update

We are all back safe and sound in Kathmandu and after a few very busy days I now have a chance to do this. Since getting back we’ve…

Flora of Nepal expedition 2014 – update

Namaste from Kathmandu. We’ve been in country now for 3 very busy days and are now ready to leave for the field. As with expedition of this nature…

Flora of Nepal Expedition 2014

In a few days time the Flora of Nepal project are about to leave for an expedition to Mid-West of the country. Leading the expedition is Dr Colin…

Remembering Cornflowers are blue

As the first Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) begin to flower in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s World War One commemoration field we are currently being treated to a mass…

19th Century Recycling

I’ve said this before but sometimes you find amazing things when raking through the herbarium cabinets. I first came across this specimen when I was part of the…

Tea (Camellia sinensis) at the RBGE

Everyone loves a good cup of tea – as evidenced from our Assam tea bush in the Temperate Glasshouse at Edinburgh. As well as living plants at the…

Sir George Watt (1851-1930)

Born on the 24th of April 1851 in Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He was educated at the Grammar School, King’s College and Marischal College, Aberdeen, and later attended…

Rhododendron horlickianum

I have a fair interest in Rhododendron because the are such a ubiquitous Scottish garden plant, but at Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh we have a world class collection…

84° East somewhere in the Nepal Himalaya.

In biogeographic circles everyone likes a good line and no I’m not talking about illicit substance abuse. Biogeographers draw lines on maps to divide geographic area and to…

The curious tale of a very old Clematis

When working through endless spreadsheets of data occasionally something jumps out because it looks odd. Scanning down the list of living Clematis at RBGE the accession number 19021013 set…

The Amazon, the Andes and the Himalaya. 2nd year PhD posters

As part of a PhD programme in the School of Biological Sciences at Edinburgh University students are expected to create and present a poster at the end of their 2nd…

The Oldest Palm in Edinburgh – Sabal bermudana L. H. Bailey (The Sabal Palm)

The Sabal Palm (Sabal bermudana) is frequently mentioned as being the oldest plant in our collection at about 200 years old. A couple of years ago while researching…

I love the smell of herbaria in the morning

I finally got round to visiting the two largest herbarium collections in the UK, The Natural History Museum London (NHM) and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, to work on…

George Don sr. (1764-1814)

George Don spent much of his life exploring the corries and glens of Angus and further afield to Arran, Ben Nevis and Skye.  His plant collections in the…

Rhomoo Lepcha

Lepchas are indigenous peoples to Sikkim, renowned for their knowledge of and respect for nature. Several Lepcha were employed as collectors by the Calcutta Botanic Garden. Rhomoo Lepcha…