Category: SciencePage 26 of 37

Latest science blog posts from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

A rapid phylogeny of Marchantia, from the RBGE collections. II. Illuminating our sampling

One of the main problems with sampling largely from herbarium specimens, rather than from material that has been specifically collected for DNA work (rapidly dried in silica gel…

Student projects at RBGE: DNA barcoding of the leafy liverwort genus Herbertus Gray in Europe and a review of the taxonomic status of Herbertus borealis Crundw.

University of Edinburgh/RBGE student David Bell, studying for the Masters degree in the Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants; thesis submitted August 2009. Supervisors: Dr David Long and Dr…

The RBGE DNA bank

Over the years, many different people have used the molecular laboratories at RBGE, to work on a multitude of projects on a multitude of plants and fungi. Some…

Hot Summer in the Microscopy Labs

  It has been a hot summer in the Microscopy Labs here at RBGE as students and visitors from all over the world have been busy using our…

A Story Behind Every Plant

  Every wild collected plant in the huge living collection at RBGE comes with a story. Of course, some are more interesting than others… In 2014 Katherine Dixon…

Flora of Nepal: a 200-year connection

A celebratory exhibition of contemporary and historic plant portraits As Britain and Nepal mark 200 years of diplomatic relations, RBGE is celebrating its own unique relationship with Nepal….

Student projects at RBGE: Barcoding British Liverworts: Metzgeria

University of Edinburgh/RBGE student Kimberley Fackler, studying for the Masters degree in the Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants; thesis submitted August 2013. Supervisors: David Bell, Dr David Long…

Student projects at RBGE: Barcoding British Liverworts: Plagiochila (Dumort.) Dumort.

University of Edinburgh/RBGE student Lucy Reed, studying for the Masters degree in the Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants; thesis submitted August 2011. Supervisors: Dr David Long, Dr Michelle…

Student projects at RBGE: DNA barcoding British liverworts: Lophocolea

University of Edinburgh Biotechnology student Kenneth McKinlay’s 4th year honours project, 2013. Supervisors: Dr David Long, Dr Laura Forrest Kenneth barcoded all six species of British Lophocolea, L….

Main Research Providers Inter-Institutional Post Graduate Research Competition

Scottish Government’s Main Research Providers Inter-Institutional Post Graduate Research Competition And Dr Sandra Knapp’s Science For Life Lecture “Bringing the ends of the plant science circle together for…

10th International Flora Malesiana Symposium

Last week the RBGE hosted the 10th International Flora Malesiana Symposium. This brought together over 170 taxonomists, horticulturists and conservationists from around the world. Over the 5 days…

A rapid phylogeny of Marchantia, from the RBGE collections. I. Sampling

Not long ago, the only non-crop plant that the mainstream scientific community seemed to be aware of was the brassica Arabidopsis thaliana – easily cultivated, with a short…

Schistidium caps an old wooden fence

Recently in Kufstein, the home of Austrian bryologist Wolfgang Hofbauer, the demolition of an attractive old building and clearing of trees and other plants from the land, leaving…

A Cleghorn tree trail at RBGE

Walking home though the garden recently, after a hard day in the herbarium, my eye alighted on a small tree that I must have passed many thousands of…

Cleghorn drawings to feature in a forthcoming exhibition

On 23 July a show entitled ‘I still believe in miracles’ will open in Inverleith House. It is a retrospective of the exhibitions of contemporary art, and of…

From Borneo to the Botanics: When the expedition ends, what happens to a botanist’s collection?

This Blog post was written by Olivia Nippe, a PhD intern who spent three months working in the RBGE Herbarium: The RBGE herbarium contains over 3 million pressed…

Meeting the Prime Minister of Nepal

Whilst visiting Nepal in late June, Mark Watson met the Rt. Hon’ble Prime Minister of Nepal, Khadga Prasad Oli, at his Residence in Baluwatar, Kathmandu. Mark was joined…

Impressions of a workshop: New model systems for early land plant evolution, 22 – 24 June 2016, Vienna, Austria

A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days in Vienna, my first visit in 11 years, when I was last over for the 2005 XVII International…

Scrophularia landroveri – botanical whimsy

Botanical names have a tendency to be utilitarian, geographical or commemorative, but very rarely are they whimsical. In 1964 however, Per Wendelbo described a new species of Scrophularia,…

Capturing Genes from Herbaria. XI. Some metagenomics of a herbarium specimen

As part of our hybrid capture project, we sampled from an Inga umbellifera specimen that was collected about 180 years ago, by Andrew Mathews, in Peru in 1835….