Category: Arid Lands House

Arid Lands House

This house displays some of the adaptations plants have made to the prolonged droughts and extreme temperatures of the desert regions across the world.

Postcards from the Biomes: Using air layering as a propagation method.

Read Marc Gilbert’s full article on air layer propagation here. Discover more from our other articles and journals here.

Stories from the Biomes: My Experience with the Biomes Decant, by Horticulturist Szymon Drozdek

It all started with one houseplant. That one plant, a Crassula ovata (money plant), led me to having one of the healthiest obsessions human beings can possibly have;…

Art in the Garden: Bronzes by Mo Farquharson

Bronzes by Mo Farquharson: Fiona Maguire shares the story of these playful sculptures.

Agave vilmoriniana

Agave vilmoriniana Berger RBGE Accession number:20030287 Living plants of this accession 20030287A G04 Arid Lands Agave vilmoriniana, popularly known as Octopus agave, is a species of agave endemic to Mexico. It is known for…

Bryological visitors at the Gardens

On Thursday the 28th September, we welcomed Professors Takayuki Kohchi and Ryuichi Nishihama, from Kyoto University, Japan, to the Botanics. Professor Kohchi’s lab is renowned for their evolutionary…

Dracaena cinnabari

Threatened plants of the world Red List status: VULNERABLE Imagine yourself standing on a tropical island surrounded by a turquoise sea. The sun is high and its searing…

Peganum harmala

11. Peganum harmala L. NITRARIACEAE A plant with many uses, both mystical and practical. It is one of the possible identifications for the Vedic plant ‘soma’, and the origin…

Dichrostachys cinerea

12. Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight & Arnott LEGUMINOSAE Hindi: Kunali, कुणाली The genus name Dichrostachys, which was given by the Indian surgeon Robert Wight and the Scottish botanist George…

The Rain Maker

Tony Bonning tells the story of the Rain Maker.  

Aloe elgonica ( Arid lands of glasshouses)

Aloe Aloe Elgonica Family:Aloaceae Description A succulent clump-forming perennial that has robust rosettes of brownish green leaves. These leaves are armed with teeth and often have a rose-purple…

The Soap Tree – Yucca elata

The Yucca elata was donated to RBGE as seed from Michigan University Botanic Garden in 1995 and was subsequently planted in the newly landscaped Arid Lands House in…