Thunbergia alata, the well traveled climber.

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Andrew

Thunbergia alata, commonly known as the Black Eyed Susan vine, is a climbing vine from the Acanthaceae family (Heywood et al, 2007)1, which produces large showy yellow flowers with a black spot in the centre. These large bright flowers and relative ease of cultivation (Smithies, 2007 )2 are the reason why it is a widely grown ornamental species. Continue reading →

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Tropical fruit in flower – Pineapple and Banana

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Alastair Culham
Musa Dwarf Cavendish group - inflorescence with young fruit and flowers.

Musa Dwarf Cavendish group – inflorescence with young fruit and flowers.

Slightly over one year from planting out our Dwarf Cavendish banana is now in full bloom and the female flowers are already beginning to develop their distinct bunches of fruit.  You can see the plant as it looked in September 2012 in a blog by Sam Hickling.  For detail on the banana family including floral morphology and leaf anatomy Pei Liew’s blog on Musaceae offers well illustrated detail.  This is the first time in several years we have flowered this clone of the edible banana. Continue reading →

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Reading in Bloom Schools Challenge 2013

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Alastair Culham
Overall winners of the Reading in Bloom Schools' Challenge with the Mayor and Dr Mark Fellowes.

Overall winners of the Reading in Bloom Schools’ Challenge with the Mayor and Dr Mark Fellowes.

On Wednesday 16th October the results of the Reading in Bloom Schools Challenge were announced at a ceremony hosted by the University of Reading.  Eight of the ten winning schools attended a meeting that started with a tour of our recently refurbished Tropical Biodiversity Glasshouse.  Prizes of Lavender plants, certificates and a cup were presented by Councillor Marian Livingston, The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Reading, and a family apple tree tree for the overall winners was presented by Dr Mark Fellowes, Head of the School of Biological Sciences. Continue reading →

Posted in Hands-on, Learning and Teaching, People, Primary Schools, Public, School Visits, Secondary Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

MSc Plant Diversity 2013 – Welcome

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Alastair Culham

The 2013 MSc Plant Diversity intake arrived on Wednesday to a busy session of induction, safety talks and the formative plant ID test.  The students were given 30 numbered plants to identify to family (plus genus and species if they knew them) in only one hour.  Here you see them taking a break in the tropical glasshouse before going back to mark their tests and discover how much plant ID they will need to learn over the next two terms.

Students from the 2013 intake of MSc Plant Diversity

Students from the 2013 intake of MSc Plant Diversity

Over the next year I expect you will see some of their work published as blogs on this site.

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Cryptolaemus, Certis and Cotton-wool

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Alastair Culham

This gallery contains 7 photos.

The tropical biodiversity greenhouse has had a year to settle down now and the plant growth has been amazing.  Species that had never grown more than a metre or two high are now double their previous size and several have … Continue reading →

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One year since planting

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Alastair Culham

This gallery contains 8 photos.

While it’s impossible to give a single date for the planing of the tropical greenhouse the bulk of the work was done in August 2012.  Photographs taken last August show small plants and some empty beds awaiting planting.  Photos taken … Continue reading →

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Thank you from Aldryngton

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Alastair Culham

This gallery contains 20 photos.

This week I received a series of letters from some of the Aldryngton pupils that visited the tropical biodiversity glasshouse.  Thank you all for writing such nice letters and for adding such good pictures!  I’ve posted your letters (with your … Continue reading →

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A Visit from Aldryngton Primary School

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Alastair Culham
Aldryngton pupils sketching the carnivorous plants

Aldryngton pupils sketching the carnivorous plants

On 26th June the University Tropical Biodiversity glasshouse hosted a visit of 90 pupils from Aldryngton Primary School.  This was the first official school visit we have hosted since the refurbishment of the glasshouse.  Mrs Dunn from Aldryngton was the main school organiser.

Ann Westgarth had organised the Health and Safety assessment, helpers to ferry people to the nearest loo and all the other issues that need to be addressed for such a visit.   removed the hosepipe used for watering, and potentially a trip hazard for small children.  I had prepared some simple plant labels to point out species that might be particularly interesting. Even the sun was shining! Continue reading →

Posted in Annual Fund, Countries, Hands-on, People, Primary Schools, School Visits | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

After only 16 hours we moved from a sketch in Google Map maker to becoming a live part of Google maps.  You can find us just by typing ‘tropical biodiversity’ into Google and looking at the maps tab.

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Alastair Culham | Leave a comment

Putting our glasshouse on the map

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Alastair Culham

I’m trialling the new Google Map Maker app via my non-university Google account. I’ve tried to generate a location for the Tropical Biodiversity Glasshouse and the link is http://goo.gl/DR4uP. I’d appreciate it if anyone could look at the link – check it works and then provide feedback to show this is a legitimate place. It will then – eventually – appear on Google maps – if the information on how it all works is correct. It can’t be done with a reading.ac.uk domain Google account at present.

Draft Google Map of the Tropical Biodiversity Glasshouse

Draft Google Map of the Tropical Biodiversity Glasshouse

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