Category: SciencePage 27 of 36
Latest science blog posts from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Thirty species were described as new to science at the Botanics last year, each of them now recognised as a unique and beautiful part of our green planet….
David Harris Herbarium Curator My favourite thing in the Herbarium is the labels on the cabinets. They tell us what is in the cabinet and where we are…
Sitting in Edinburgh airport on a Monday morning, waiting for David Long to join me, checked in through to Trondheim via Copenhagen, I felt completely unprepared. The previous week…
What do Giant panda eat? The answer might seem obvious but the reality is far from simplistic. The diet of the Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is highly specialised…
Just one of the amazing things about lichens is… You don’t have to go to a tropical rainforest, the Caledonian Forest or the far west coast of Scotland…
Outdoor Air pollution Air pollution is a huge global environmental health issue, as recognised by the World Health Organisation. The air quality in Scotland is generally very good,…
The idea formed quite early on in my TCV Natural Talent Traineeship based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to develop a specific tool kit to help people…
Protection of the habitat is a perhaps the most effective method of conservation of plant diversity, yet this alone cannot guarantee the survival of some of our most…
If anyone had asked me if I knew any plants belonging to the Sapotaceae family eight weeks ago, I would have had no suggestions – I probably wouldn’t…
The Sapotaceae plant family provides us with some wonderful examples of the sometimes intricate interactions plants have with animals. One of the more intriguing cases is that of…
One of the most recognisable groups in the bryophytes, the complex thalloid liverwort genus Marchantia, has just become a bit larger. We have sunk Preissia and Bucegia into…
Archaeological studies have shown that, ‘Biochar’, or at least a similar product, was used by ancient Amazonians to add to the soil to help with their food growing….
In the past I have written about botanical ‘swagger prints’ – large-format illustrations commissioned at least in part to boost the ego of the commissioner. At RBGE (from…
In order ‘to explore, conserve and explain the world of plants’ we need to build up our collections, both of living plants and herbarium specimens, especially from under-collected…
The most glowing review of Cleghorn’s (frankly rather dull – his father uncharitably told him that it would ‘drive all other soporifics out of fashion’) 1861 Forests &…
Bertha Chandler (1885-1961) In 1901 did Andrew Carnegie know, by donating $10 million to create the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, that his legacy would assist…
With Valentine’s Day occurring recently it may be apt to recount the story of a nineteenth century Royal visit to RBGE, and tell the stories behind two red roses named in honour of the…
Behind many of the books in the RBGE library lie interesting stories or provenances. One that has come to light during research for a new biography of the…
Two new books are shortly to be published by RBGE about one of the Garden’s most significant, but forgotten, benefactors – Hugh Cleghorn of Stravithie (1820–1895). Some of…
There is renewed optimism for the future of ash trees in the UK, following new research which has identified genetic markers for susceptibility to Ash Dieback caused by…