Category Archives: People

Amorphophallus konjac: Can You Resist the Lure of the Devil’s Tongue?

You are probably familiar with Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum, which has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, but do you know about its smaller, red tongued sibling Amorphophallus konjac? Family Description A. konjac is a member of the … Continue reading

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84th Reading Beavers – Saving the environment!

On Friday evening we had the pleasure of hosting a keen and vibrant group of Beavers from the local 84th group along with their leaders and parent helpers.  While the emphasis was very much on look and experience the exciting … Continue reading

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The Nigerian Field Society

On Saturday 4th July we welcomed the Nigerian Field Society UK branch to the Tropical Glasshouse.  This was an especially interesting visit for me because many of the visitors had far more experience of tropical biodiversity, and particularly tropical botany … Continue reading

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A Multidimensional Greek Wedding

In March 2012 Kalman and Maria were helping prepare the tropical glasshouse for complete re-planting.  There was heavy digging to do while we mixed 4-5 tonnes of home produced compost for filling the glasshouse beds and some photography which involved … Continue reading

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Comfortable life with Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass)!!

This gallery contains 3 photos.

You have heard of name “lemongrass”, haven’t you? So, what is the lemongrass? Is Lemongrass same as a Lemon? The answer is definitely No! It is a completely different species from the lemon. Well, why do we call it the … Continue reading

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You’re a botanist, what’s this then? (Or Tradescantia spathacea, this one’s for you mum!)

That sentence may sound familiar to many of you who frequent this blog (followed closely by “Botany, so you’re a gardener then?” but we won’t go in to that). Being asked about the identity of a random plant that mysteriously … Continue reading

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The Date Palm: A Special Plant from the Old World

The Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is grown throughout the arid and semiarid regions of the world, particularly in West Asia and North Africa. It is well adapted to the desert environment, where a dry and warm climate is important … Continue reading

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Tacca chantrieri – Halloween in the plant world!

Tacca chantrieri has a purple-black, curious yet magnificent inflorescence with wide-spread wings and whisker-like bracts hanging from the side. The inflorescence of this tropical plant almost looks like a bat or jungle cat in the wild. Thus giving the plant a common name … Continue reading

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University librarians enjoy the Dew(e)y atmosphere

At 9am sharp today the tropical glasshouse was invaded by a hush of Librarians.  Led by the intrepid Helen Hathway (Head of Academic Liaison and Support) and guided by our biology subject specialist Tim Chapman more than 20 members of … Continue reading

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A visit from 71st Beavers

Monday afternoon was grey, cold and wet but the Reading 71st Beavers and their helpers braved the weather to walk to our tropical glasshouse.  Thick coats were soon shed and the children had a chance to look around and interact … Continue reading

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