On Saturday 12th May Reading University will host the Annual General Meeting of the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI). The morning session will start at 10am in the Chemistry building where there will be talks on botanical/ecological consultancy, the APG classification and Axiophytes. This will be followed by what might prove to be a rather lively AGM where the proposal of a new corporate structure will be made and discussed.
The morning events will be followed by a choice of guided tours on campus including our recently revamped Harris Garden, the Reading University Herbarium (RNG), guided tours of plants on our large green campus and a tour of the teaching collections in the greenhouses – where currently there is a stunning display of Sarracenia in flower.
Sunday sees a tour led by Mick Crawley to Cookham Green (SU893853) for which you will need to book via the BSBI web site.
The BSBI plays a major role in outreach activities to promote knowledge of the British flora and has produced a series of specialist guides to difficult plant groups. It also has a network of specialists who donate their time to aid others with identification of difficult groups and a network of local recorders who hold invaluable knowledge of plant species in their areas. This network of expertise, combined with the Huge enthusiasm of those individuals provides an essential infrastructure for the recording and monitoring of the British and Irish floras. Do visit their web site and do come along to the meeting! I’ll report on it later.
