Sibbaldia - the Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Journals)
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An International Plant Sentinel Network
Get PDFInvasive plant pests and pathogens pose a major threat to biodiversity around the world, amplified in recent years by the globalisation of trade in plants and plant material and the impacts of climate change. Botanic gardens and arboreta offer a unique opportunity for the identification and further investigation of new and emerging pest and pathogen risks, which can provide valuable information for the creation of prevention, eradication and control programmes. The International Plant Sentinel Network (IPSN) is being developed to provide a platform for coordination, information exchange and support for sentinel plant research within botanic gardens and arboreta. Alongside IPSN Member Gardens, the network includes plant protection professionals and National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs) from around the world. The IPSN provides tools which will help to enable gardens to contribute to research by increasing knowledge and awareness among garden staff, developing standardised approaches and providing training materials and methodologies for monitoring and surveying. The network also promotes links with local professional diagnostic support that can help aid the early detection and rapid response to new pest incursions, thus protecting valuable, and often unique, plant collections
The Cultivation of Valdivia gayana J. RÉMY.: a Little Known Herb from Southern Chile
Get PDFValdivia gayana J. Rémy. is a herbaceous, sometimes sub-shrubby member of Escalloniaceae, a family dominated by woody species. It has a limited distribution in southern Chile and, to the knowledge of the authors, has not been cultivated in gardens outside Chile before. It is an unusual species in many senses and the collection and cultivation from seed at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is described here and suggestions for propagating the plant from cuttings are made
Collection and Curation of Trillium Species at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Get PDFThe genus Trillium are spring-flowering woodland plants which thrive at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The rationale, planning and collection details of a field trip to the eastern states of the USA in 2011 are described. An account of the living and seed collections made of trilliums and associated species and their germination and establishment following the trip is given. A list of the species collected is provided as an appendix
Ancillary Botanic Gardens in Lebanon: Empowering Local Contributions to Plant Conservation
Get PDFBotanic gardens are integral to the process of plant conservation and development, but international conservation targets set down in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation are unlikely to be met in countries such as Lebanon, where land is limited, real-estate value is high, conservation as a national priority is low and scientific botanical knowledge is not prevalent.This paper proposes the recognition of a complementary category of gardens, ancillary botanic gardens (ABGs), which formalise local garden initiatives and facilitate options to tackle space limitations. ABGs are informal, deregulated gardens for the conservation of plant diversity and cultural plant knowledge; they are established by local communities in open sites which have existing levels of land protection owing to their primary purpose as archaeological sites, educational institutions, religious landholdings, private institutions and touristic sites
Horticulture of Nutmeg: Germination, Propagation and Cultivation
Get PDFThe living collection of plants in the nutmeg family, Myristicaceae, has been increasing at the Botanic Garden of Delft University of Technology (Delft BG) since 2001. Horticultural and research staff there have been exploring the horticultural requirements, molecular structure and chemical composition of these plants since then. This paper comments on the historical importanceof this family and the processes required to acquire live plant material. In recent years the significance of the mycorrhizal associations formed by the family and the consequences for their cultivation have been identified and these are described here along with the most effective methods of propagation as identified by staff at Delft BG
Student Project: Interpreting Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation: a Case Study of Interpretation Panels at a Range of Gardens in Britain
Get PDFThis article examines how interpretation panels communicate plant conservation to garden visitors. The focus of the study is on interpretation themes and stories, messages conveyed, and textual and visual devices used. Special attention is paid to how the information on Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation is presented. The case study focused on interpretation panels at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and its three Regional Gardens. An assessment of the display panels at RBGE was carried out for visitor opinion and perception and these were replicated and compared with similar panels in three other gardens in the UK. The results of these assessments and a brief study of visitor behaviour contributed to a set of suggestions for future interpretation provided here. This article is an extract from the author’s HND Specialist Project written for the RBGE Diploma in Horticulture with Plantsmanship in June 2013
Monitoring Populations of Saxifraga cespitosa in Scotland
Get PDFSaxifraga cespitosa is listed as Endangered on the UK Red List, compiled using IUCN criteria (Cheffings & Farrell, 2005). It is also one of the species listed for conservation priority at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) under Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). The species has been monitored extensively in the past, but there have been limited surveys in recent years. RBGE and the National Botanic Garden of Wales plan to survey all the UK locations of this species to increase information on existing populations and the threats to its survival. The field work and surveys carried out in 2013 are described in this paper and they have proved to be a useful learning experience for developing both staff skills and survey methods. Information on cultivation of the species from seed is also given. A field data sheet is provided as an appendix
An Investigation into Improving the Germination Rates of Aloe Polyphylla Schönland Ex Pillans
Get PDFA germination technique trial was carried out to improve the germination of Aloe polyphylla Schönland ex Pillans (common name spiral aloe). These germination trials involved different media and temperatures, increased oxygen levels, and light and dark environments. The best results (90% germination) were obtained by vernalising the seeds for two weeks and then placing them in a sunny, but not bright, area with varying temperatures on a water-based medium of either 10% recommended fertiliser solution or in distilled water.The germination of Aloe polyphylla was also compared to three other species in the genus: A. branddraaiensis Groenew, A. castanea Schönl and A. elegans Tod.. The results from this trial showed that, like A. polyphylla, these species can also germinate in water-based media.The success of finding the key requirements for germination show that techniques of this type are important methods for conserving this threatened species and can also be a useful propagation tool for the horticulture industry. The lack of research on this plant highlights the importance of this work for conserving this spectacular species which is listed as Vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Plant Red Data list and is registered on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Using Trees to Create Habitats Within a Botanic Garden
Get PDFBotanic gardens bring plants from all over the world into one small place for people to admire and study. The challenge lies in creating a suitable habitat for specimens from widely disparate regions in the garden environment. Plants have specific environmental requirements which have to be considered for successful cultivation, but sometimes these are not naturally present and instead must be provided. This paper discusses the ecological utility of large trees in the context of the botanic garden for other plants to flourish