Polygala serpyllifolia – heath milkwort – was collected for the Darwin Tree of Life project by Dr Markus Ruhsam, down from the dam at Lochan na Lairige on Ben Lawers, on the 7th June 2022.
Mnium hornum – Swan’s neck thyme moss – was collected for the Darwin Tree of Life project by Dr David Bell on the 18th August 2020, in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Solidago virgaurea – goldenrod – was collected for the Darwin Tree of Life project by Dr Markus Ruhsam in a woodland near the banks of Loch Lomond, on the 1st Sept 2021.
The following blog was written by Becky Camfield a digitiser in the Herbarium. Since 2021 we have increased our digitisation capacity with the goal of getting to 1…
Scapania ornithopoides, the ‘Birds-foot Earwort’ was collected for the Darwin Tree of Life project by Dr David Bell and Dr David Long at the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve on the 22nd August 2021.
Orchis mascula was collected for the Darwin Tree of Life project by Dr Markus Ruhsam on the 23rd May 2023, near Lochan na Lairige on Ben Lawers. One of the Scots names for this plant is Hen’s kames
Geranium molle, the Dove’s foot cranebill, was collected for the Darwin Tree of Life project on the 9th of May 2022 by Dr Markus Ruhsam, on the verge of a road that passes over a golf course.
A specimen of Pyrus communis, the pear tree, was collected for the DToL project by Dr Markus Ruhsam at the Hermitage of Braid in Edinburgh on the 31st May 2022.
We have already seen the release of the thousandth Darwin Tree of Life genome, the Purple Bar moth, Cosmorhoe ocellata. To celebrate this festive season, we have considered what we have given, or might like to receive, for our own twelve days of Christmas…
In May 1810 the McNab family took up residence in Botanics Cottage, then on its original site on Leith Walk. The family consisted of William, his wife Elizabeth,…
Awareness that Britain is a rainforest nation is finally growing. Environmental organisations are doing their best to get Britain’s rainforests the recognition they deserve. But one man, Guy…
The following post was written by Chris Knowles, a digitiser working in the RBGE Herbarium. As part of my first year at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh as…
Diversity is the basis of resilience. But we tend to focus on the number of species or habitats and not the diversity within a single species. This is…
The following blog post was written by Courtney Kemnitz, a Digitiser in the RBGE Herbarium. Courtney is digitising the British Isles collection. This series of blog posts will…
The apple is a symbol of fertility in Norse and Germanic pagan tradition. So, there is some irony in the fact that work by the Scottish Plant Recovery…
I recently joined the research staff of the RBGE as a fern taxonomist focusing on the diversity of tropical southeast Asia. RBGE is perfect for me. Its herbarium…
I imagine that releasing a red kite or a golden eagle as part of a species reintroduction programme is a pretty emotional moment. That animal, raised in captivity,…
Plant blindness – the inability to see or notice the plants in one’s own environment. Elisabeth schussler & James wandersee, 1998 Surprisingly, for me at least, some people…