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RBGE Complex Thalloid Liverwort Symposium, July 14th-15th 2015

The complex thalloid liverworts, or Marchantiopsida, are one of the oldest land plant lineages, and contain a bewildering array of morphologies, ranging from comparatively simple plants like Blasia,…

A profusion of spring bulbs

The sand bench within the alpine house contains a swathe of colour. Spring bulbs in full bloom are always a welcome show after the winter. Yellow, the predominant…

January 2015 Garden Wildlife Report

The first month of 2015 started off mild, bringing out a few invertebrates, but turned colder from mid-month with some frosts and light snow. There were a few…

The last dig

In the next few weeks the site which was once home to the Botanic Cottage and one of the remaining fragments of the long lost Leith Walk Botanic…

A fine fresh flower with botanical interest

Lonicera caerulea var. glabrescens; sparse to flower and when it does, the terminal and auxiliary cluster are small and relatively insignificant. This is a late winter flowering multi…

From the herbarium, with love…

Whilst digitising the British algae, we have been finding some interesting and beautiful seaweeds. This Dilsea carnosa, collected in Shetland, is particularly appropriate with Valentines day this weekend……

How big was our garden?

It has become second nature to look to Wikipedia for a summary of a subject. So when I was looking for a brief paragraph on the history of…

Edinburgh Living Landscape – RBGE partnership

A fantastic new project is taking place within Edinburgh City – the Edinburgh Living Landscape The Edinburgh Living Landscape (ELL) is a groundbreaking initiative which brings together the…

A showy Iris to start the alpine season

Deep loamy clay soil suits this bulbous Iris presently in flower in the alpine house. With the proviso that when watering none should fall on the foliage. Collected…

Looking for Lamium

Days are lengthening and the soil is warming. At this time of year be aware of the weed population shooting up and flowering. Catch the winter “keepers” now….

What to do in your fruit and vegetable garden in Scotland: FEBRUARY

Many typical winter tasks can be done in February, such as: preparing the ground for spring seed sowing, planting new fruit trees and bushes and pruning apples, pears…

Botanics Bird Report – 2014

Last year, 2014, was a good year for bird recording in the Botanics. 63 bird species were recorded during 2014. This is one more than 2013 and the…

Flora of Nepal BRD data online

It has now been over  4 months since we returned to Edinburgh after the successful botancial exploration of Baglung, Rukum and Dolpa districts for the Flora of Nepal…

A delight from the Orient

Helleborus orientalis found growing through southern Europe and into SW Asia. Seed to grow this plant was collected in Georgia from a plant growing with Primula sp. on…

The Tjipetir mystery and plant taxonomy

Peter Wilkie, intrepid Sapotaceae botanist, has been blowing the trumpet for plant taxonomy in an article entitled What’s in a name? A mass of analysis in The Scotsman…

Yellowhammer, yet another bird for the Garden’s list

On 3 January 2015, Gavin Powell, one of the RBGE Visitor Welcome team, spotted an unusual bird with bright yellow head perched on brambles opposite the Cryptogamic Garden….

Crossing continents

Carpeting the ground beneath Picea orientalis are the remains of cones that have been stripped of seed by the Gardens grey squirrel population. They have systematically worked their…

December 2014 Garden Wildlife Report

December 2014 was a month of varied weather, starting rather cold but sunny with some slight frosts, with a wetter, stormier period in the middle of the month,…

Commemorating the First World War – our Stories

To mark the centenary of the First World War, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has created a poppy meadow at our Edinburgh garden. The meadow, located on the…

Strawberry fields

Duchesnea indica carries an interesting berry resembling a miniature strawberry. This invasive stoloniferous ground covering plant was introduced from Taiwan where it was growing in sub-tropical rainforest. Quite…