Tag: China

Hidden Histories: Stories found in the George Forrest archive – The Temple of the Goddess of Mercy

I am fortunate to be able to work with archive material produced by people like plant collector George Forrest (1873-1932), who travelled extensively in Yunnan province, southwest China…

100th birthday for a Himalayan Wild Pear collected by George Forrest

On the 18th July 2018 we celebrate the 100th birthday of the Pyrus pashia tree growing on the Pyrus lawn.

Unlocking the power of poo

A short video by Dr Linda Neaves about the challenges of finding giant panda poo in the mountains of China, and how poo samples can unlock the mystery…

A diversity of forms….. but how do you tell them apart?

To understand giant panda diet you need to understand bamboos and there are many types of bamboos in their habitat. Giant pandas seems to know which is best…

Searching for bamboo and giant panda…..poo…..

On a mountain in China a giant panda spends hours sitting eating bamboo but there is no time for a scientist to sit when you are trying to…

International Botanical Congress (IBC17) – Living Walls

Our short damp November days offer the perfect opportunity for leafing through reels of photographs from earlier in the year; many of mine are from a short trip…

Cornus capitata – FED 331– a botanical phoenix

In previous Botanics Stories I have written about the joys of Herbarium Angling, but fusty old botanists do occasionally emerge into the glare of daylight and take a…

Bits of bamboo

In the Herbarium at RBGE, we store a huge number of sheets of archival quality paper with squashed and dried plant specimens stuck to them. These have been…

Hydrangea sargentiana – Ernest Henry Wilson’s collection

During August of 1907, in western part of Hubei province in China, Ernest Henry Wilson collected a Hydrangea that turned out to be new to science. The plant…

Clematis argentilucida from SW China

Tucked away on a boundary wall near the glasshouses, but not on public display, is one of the oldest living Clematis specimens in our collection. This plant was…

The Letters of George Forrest

Pauline Maclean, an RBGE Volunteer, writes: “… By now you must be aware of the fact that I am no writer. As a practical worker I am a…

CUBG Horticulture Training Course Kunming

From 14th – 22nd November 35 staff from 20 of China’s Botanical Gardens have been attending a horticulture training course at Kunming Botanic Garden. This course has been…

The curious tale of a very old Clematis

When working through endless spreadsheets of data occasionally something jumps out because it looks odd. Scanning down the list of living Clematis at RBGE the accession number 19021013 set…