Sibbaldia - the Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Journals)
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Tree Fern Apical Temperatures at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
No full textTree ferns are difficult to maintain out of doors in the British Isles except in western localities, where winter temperatures are moderated by the North Atlantic Drift, or in places where buildings provide a clement microclimate. The present study of tree-fern apical temperatures during winter was carried out on five trunked specimens of Dicksonia antarctica that had been grown satisfactorily out of doors for several years, while planted in the ground of a courtyard at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). The plants were never wrapped or otherwise protected with thermal insulation during the winter months. An electric thermometer was inserted into the apical cleft of each plant in November 2003, and weekly readings of minimum and maximum temperature taken until April 2004. The ambient temperature of the air in the courtyard was similarly recorded and compared with the screen and grass temperatures at the RBGE weather station in the main botanic garden.
The lowest grass and screen temperatures were respectively -11.2°C and -7.1°C, whereas the lowest courtyard and fern-apical temperatures were respectively -3.2°C and -0.8°C. Thus in the coldest period of that winter there was over 10°C difference in temperature between ground level in the main garden and a tree fern apical cleft in the sheltered courtyard.
The tree ferns were not noticeably damaged by exposure of the apical cleft region to just below freezing point on a few occasions and the fronds stayed green. The five individual plants differed considerably in trunk height, diameter and volume. Regression analysis revealed that there was a significantly increasing thermal-insulating effect in the apical cleft associated with larger trunk diameters and volumes.
The RBGE weather station temperatures during the winter of 2003-4 were unexceptional when compared with records from the previous 19 years. Thus the data from 2003-4 may be taken as representing a typical recent winter for this Edinburgh location.
This study highlights the benefits of having detailed temperature measurements when assessing the winter-protective capabilities of a particular micro—environment for a semi-hardy species such as D. antarctica
Development of the \u27Australasian\u27 Woodland at Logan Botanic Garden
No full textLogan Botanic Garden, one of the Regional Gardens of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, has a very mild climate when its northerly latitude is considered. This allows the cultivation of a remarkable range of what would normally be described as exotic, semi hardy plants to be grown. This paper describes the species selection, design and development of a newly refurbished part of the garden, the \u27Australasian\u27 woodland
Living Collection Curation: A Holistic Approach, With the RBGE Palm House as a Case Study
No full textThe necessity to redesign and relandscape the interior of the Temperate Palmhouse at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) created the opportunity to undertake a full curatorial survey of the palms and other plants contained in the Palmhouse. This paper gives the background to, and describes the process of, undertaking the survey. It stresses the need for maximum consultation with all interested parties to decide the fate of existing plants and make recommendations for new plantings. The result was a booklet describing the history and development of the Palmhouse, listings of all existing plants with notes on ethnobotanical use, value in teaching or research and final destination and suggestions for new species to meet the new design along with educational and interpretation opportunities. The resultant survey could act as a model for other projects
The Role of Horticulture in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
Get PDFThe Global Strategy for Plant Conservation contains 16 targets for plant conservation to be met by the year 2010. All 16 are applicable to the work of botanic gardens and at least 8 are relevant to the type of horticulture that is practiced in botanic gardens. This paper argues that the skills of botanical horticulturists are needed if the GSPC is to be successful. It encourages horticulturists in botanic gardens to join with other scientists and practitioners in helping to realise the potential of the GSPC to make a real impact in plant conservation
Inadequate Accession Data Compromises the Conservation Value of Plant Collections
No full textThe accession data quality and record keeping at 21 botanic gardens, 35 gardens with National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG) collections, and eight other significant gardens in the UK was surveyed in January 2001, with special reference to Hebe.Nearly half of all the gardens in the survey had no written policies or procedures on accessions. This correlated significantly (p<0.05) with poorer quality accession data. Only 14% of botanicgardens and 17% of NCCPG gardens recorded all the minimum accession data fields recommended by the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). Only a third of all types of garden stored all their data on computer; a third of the botanic gardens updated their data less frequently than every two years, and the information transferred from the accession records to labels was sometimes scant. There was a significant negative correlation between the average number of accessions per member of staff, and accession data quality — more than 250accessions per member of staff often corresponding to poor data quality.We challenge the view that botanic gardens should only concentrate on plants from the local indigenous flora (Action Plan for Botanic Gardens in the European Union, BGCI 2000) becauseit restricts the educational role and research potential of the garden and limits the world-wide collections of endangered species being kept safe from indigenous hazards. However, with a need to limit the plants in gardens to a manageable number with good records, criteria will be needed to select which species to represent in collections. A list of criteria, developed from areview of the Hebe collection in the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, is suggested for all plants in botanic and similar gardens
Wild Origin Material - The Sine Qua Non of Botanic Garden Collections?
Get PDFBotanic gardens make great claims for their content of \u27wild origin material\u27 for use in research, education and conservation. But the material included under this heading is very diverse in its nature and origin, covering a broad spectrum of histories. Various types of wild origin material are distinguished, and the effects of these distinctions on botanic gardens record systems briefly considered
Cultivation of Thyrsopteris elegans
Get PDFThyrsopteris elegans Kunze is a monospecific genus of fern endemic to the Juan Fernandez Islands, off the coast of Chile. These islands have large numbers of alien invasive species and the native flora, including T elegans which already has a very restricted distribution, is consequently under considerable threat. One of the largest examples of this species in cultivation in Britain grows at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and this paper describes its propagationand cultivation
Ex Situ Horticulture of Welwitschia mirabilis
No full textWelwitschia mirabilis Hook.f. occurs in the Namib Desert of Namibia and Angola. It survives on fog which condenses on its leaves, supplemented by flooding every six to ten years. The seeds contain germination-inhibiting alkaloids which must be washed out by rainfall before germination can take place. Many seeds are also infected with the fungus Aspergillus niger which causes high levels of mortality in newly germinated seeds. A strategy for the control of this black smut fungus is described along with techniques for seed sowing and cultivation
