Archive Service Accreditation

We are proud to announce that the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Archives are officially now an Accredited Archive Service – a result of many years of hard work…

Towards 3 million: Oleaceae

The following blog was written by Rebecca Camfield a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity reaching 1 million specimens imaged in August…

A Memento of the Battle of Navarino

On my daily walk to Wardie Bay I pass a curiosity shop of an almost extinct type, whose proprietor Dorian Hiram has the measure of my eclectic tastes….

Mapping bemba forest in central Africa

It surprises me that, despite all the advances in AI, computers cannot easily and accurately separate crowns of individual trees in a tropical forest seen from space. It…

Towards 3 million: Guttiferae (Clusiaceae)

The following blog was written by Linde Hess a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity reaching 1 million specimens imaged in August…

Towards 3 million: Nelumbonaceae

The following blog was written by Rebecca Camfield a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity reaching 1 million specimens imaged in August…

Botanical Illustrations by Elizabeth Haig (1871–1954)

By Madeleine E. Dugan My name is Madeleine Dugan and I am an Art History Mlitt student. As part of my studies at the University of Glasgow, I…

Cataloguing Recent Entries into the Botanic Art Collection

By Madeleine E. Dugan My name is Madeleine Dugan and I am an Art History Mlitt student. As part of my studies at the University of Glasgow, I…

Partners giving elm and apple a better future

March and April saw the completion of a marathon planting exercise by the Scottish Plant Recovery team to give a helping hand to two threatened native tree species…

Towards 3 million: Elatinaceae & Irvingiaceae

The following blog was written by Linde Hess a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity reaching 1 million specimens imaged in August…

Lurking in the Basement: specimens collected in Southern India in 1853 rediscovered

In September 2024 Lesley Scott exhumed a slightly sinister box from the RBGE Long Store. It contained a bundle of unmounted specimens and was labelled: “Flora of India….

Will generative AI lead to the zombie name apocalypse?

An online discussion about exchanging seeds of a new species called Meconopsis jiajinshanensis led to the Chinese botanical website iplant.cn and the page for Meconopsis balangensis var. atrata….

Towards 3 million: The common daisy – Bellis perennis

The following blog was written by Courtney Kemnitz a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity with the goal of getting to 1…

My journey as a Biodiversity Ambassador

By Isabella Luciani When I first applied for the Biodiversity Ambassador Traineeship, I saw it as a great opportunity to gain hands-on community engagement experience as well as…

Wilding Garden trials – small cow-wheat

The Garden is now being used as a test bed to explore some of the challenges and unanswered questions involved in returning threatened Scottish plants to wild sites….

Towards 3 million: An update on Forrest’s Giant Rhododendron

The following blog was written by Rebecca Camfield a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity reaching 1 million specimens imaged in August…

Miseonnamu and Me: Becoming a Biodiversity Ambassador

By Zoe Lorimer Biodiversity is more than just a scientific concept—it is deeply personal, cultural, and historical. For many of us, nature is intertwined with our identities, memories,…

Weeding moss

Weeding moss might sound like the endless battle that some people engage in to maintain their lawns and block paving in immaculate condition. Today I stumbled across a…

Towards 3 million: Umbelliferae

The following blog was written by Chris Knowles a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity reaching 1 million specimens imaged in August…

Towards 3 million: Bignoniaceae

The following blog was written by Rebecca Camfield a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity reaching 1 million specimens imaged in August…