Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Research Articles

Flowering curves and the summer-gap mystery

Results from year-round weekly monitoring of 93 taxa (179 accessions) at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) are presented in the form of flowering curves. These are provisionally grouped into classes, and hypotheses are suggested to explain the different patterns. Attention is drawn to a prominent ‘summer gap’ in flowering in some species, and possible explanations for the gap are discussed.

Developing a Carbon Management Plan for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh joined the Carbon Management-Lite Programme run by the Carbon Trust in November 2009. This paper provides details of the programme and the process of writing a Carbon Management Plan.

Strengthening the scientific contribution of botanic gardens to the second phase of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation

The need for action on the global environment is now well understood and governments, agencies, non-governmental organizations and botanic gardens have all been working in their various ways to promote environmental sustainability and reduce species and habitat loss for at least 10–20 years. The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) has been widely adopted, particularly by the botanic garden community, and has resulted in many successes despite failing to achieve its ultimate goal of halting the loss of plant biodiversity. The objectives and targets for Phase 2 of the GSPC, running from 2010 to 2020, mirror those of Phase 1 and had been largely agreed prior to their formal adoption at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya in October 2010. However, to be successful, the scientific contribution of botanic gardens needs to be strengthened, as does government policy and commitment. Botanic garden research to underpin conservation action, including the role of botanic garden horticulture, training and international capacity building, has a major part to play and needs to be better understood and better coordinated. We provide examples based on the experience of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in the UK and overseas. Government policy, at national and international levels, needs to reflect the fundamental importance of plant diversity in maintaining the biosphere and supporting humanity. The commitment of significant new resources is an essential prerequisite for success, but this needs to be well coordinated, inclusive of all stakeholders and carefully targeted. A further challenge is the need to integrate better the plant diversity-related activities of what are currently diverse and disconnected sectors, including agriculture, forestry, protected area management and botanic gardens.

A Comparison of Herbarium Dried, Critical Point Dried and Fresh Plant Material using High Vacuum and Variable Pressure SEM

The Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (RBGE), houses some three million dried plant specimens collected from all over the world. Many of these are precious because of historical connections with people such as Charles Darwin and others are valuable because they may be the only remaining records of extinct species. Dating from the 17th century, the Herbarium collection provides botanists and taxonomists with an invaluable reference aid to plant classification.

A review of the distribution and conservation status of Taxus in the Himalayas, China and Southeast Asia

The Asian yews have been the subject of intense interest over the last two decades. Their value as a source of raw material for the production of the anticancer drug Taxol has meant that they have been intensively exploited throughout most parts of their range and this has led to increasing concern about their conservation. Uncertainty about the taxonomy and distribution of the taxa involved has made undertaking conservation assessments difficult. This paper gives a brief overview of recent research by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Kunming Institute of Botany into Asian yews and discusses some of the disparities between current national, regional and global conservation assessments.

Fit for purpose: the importance of quality standards in the cultivation and use of live plant collections for conservation

The one activity that is common to all botanic gardens is the cultivation of plants. Many also have education, science, conservation, events and exhibitions programmes but cultivating plants is at the core of every botanic garden and plants are used to support all these activities. With existing and potential threats to plants and habitats it is essential that botanic gardens contribute to both the science and practice of plant conservation. This is because they have the staff skills and some of the resources required to make a significant contribution. However, if the live plant collections are to play a part in this work, and they must, then they must be guided by a Collection Policy and achieve the highest standards of sampling, record keeping and cultivation to make sure that the plants in question are fit for purpose. After describing the Collection Policy for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) in Part 1, the paper covers the importance of wild origin material, targets, review and audits in driving up standards in Part 2. In Part 3, the inadequacy of some conservation collections are described. The approach taken by three different conservation programmes at RBGE which have embraced the need for rigorous standards in conservation collections are then described. These are the International Conifer Conservation Programme, the Scottish Plants Programme and RBGE’s Target 8 (of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation) Project. Examples from RBGE’s Living Collection and Collection Policy are used throughout to illustrate the points being made.

The Development of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh ‘Certificate in Practical Horticulture’

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) has a long history of delivering high-quality practical horticultural training within the UK and abroad. In 2007 this training was formalised by the RBGE Education Department into the ‘RBGE Certificate in Practical Horticulture’ (CPH) programme. The vision for the CPH was to create an internationally recognised and standardised, yet flexible and practical horticultural qualification, predominantly, but not exclusively, for the botanic gardens sector. Providing a measurable educational outcome for international development projects is increasing the contribution that RBGE makes to target 15 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. This paper reviews the development of the CPH programme, through its initial conception, the writing of the first course syllabus, the evolution of the course structure and content, up to the course now being offered today. The initial success of the CPH is discussed, detailing the different locations in which the course has been delivered to date and the other gardens that are now offering the CPH themselves. Recent developments are discussed, including the endorsement of the course by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and the funding awarded by the Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust in 2010 for course development. The paper ends by highlighting the future objectives for the CPH, including the development of new and improved tutor and learner support materials, the offering of ‘train the trainer’ programmes that will facilitate the wider uptake of these courses and the vision for the programme to become a benchmark for practical horticultural training worldwide.

Data Capture and Taxonomic Determination of Cycadales at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

This paper discusses a curatorial review of the Cycadales in the Living Collection at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) following the methodology described by Frachon et al. (2009). It provides an understanding of the cycads in the Living Collection and the diversity of the group represented at RBGE. The paper also describes the determination process and any changes in identification during the course of the project. This project was carried out as part of the second year project of the HND in Horticulture with Plantsmanship at RBGE.

The Balanced Scorecard Combined with an Alternative Costing System

This project investigated whether a strategy framework such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), linked to a Performance Management System (PMS), would, compared to a more standard model of strategic planning, improve focus and research output by botanic gardens worldwide. The focus of the project shifted as the opportunity arose to develop an objective costing system linked to the related PMS, which allowed the researchers to posit that the BSC framework could provide a more effective contribution to governance. The research output was based on an in-depth case study at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh employing documentary analysis and innovative action research techniques adopting a constructive approach. This paper has been adapted for Sibbaldia having previously been published by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Research Project R220 (Macnab et al., 2010).

Diplycosia Blume

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh holds a number of small and understudied collections in the glasshouses at Edinburgh about which relatively little is known. This paper introduces one of these genera. A brief introduction and history is given of the genus Diplycosia Blume. An outline of the literature and a summary of their distribution, along with an overview and history of the collections held at Edinburgh, are also presented, as are cultivation notes. All plant names in this paper have been cross-referenced using the International Plant Names Index website (International Plant Names Index, 2010).

Aligned with Nature

Designed with its natural setting in mind, the new visitor and exhibition center that invites guests into the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh combines contemporary design and construction techniques with a traditional, natural building material: timber.

The West of Scotland Regional Dredging Committee of the BAAS: Firth of Clyde dredging activities and participants’ circumstances impinging thereon (1834–1856)

Insights gained into the activities of the West of Scotland Regional Dredging Committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS): a committee comprising the Reverend Dr Charles Popham Miles (Chairman), Dr Robert Kaye Greville, Professor John Hutton Balfour and Thomas Campbell Eyton, are presented. Based particularly on previously unreported correspondence between Miles and Balfour, and between Greville and Balfour that is housed in the archives of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the backgrounds of these persons (like their shared religious leanings) are illuminated and their practical experiences of dredging in the Firth of Clyde, notably in Lamlash Bay (Isle of Arran), brought into focus. Economic aspects relating to the costs of dredging, the finances of participants and the adequacy of the initial BAAS grant are highlighted and other social aspects commented upon. There is no known surviving contemporary account of the interactions between this network of BAAS dredging committee members, so this correspondence seemingly remains, to date, the only information that is available as primary sources.

JIPB in 2010 – A More Reader‐Friendly International Journal

JIPB in 2010 – A More Reader‐Friendly International Journal

Cultivation of the genus Pelargonium under glass

This paper describes the cultivation under glass of the genus Pelargonium. The difference between Pelargonium and the other four genera in the family Geraniaceae is noted and a list of species grown at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is provided. The use of the genus in the display glasshouses at this botanic garden is described followed by notes on cultivation including watering, nutrition, pruning, pest control, and propagation. The use of pelargoniums in the commercial and medicinal industries follows.

Data Capture Project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Botanic gardens, with their large holdings of living plants collected from around the world, are important guardians of plant biodiversity, but acquiring and curating these genetic resources is enormously expensive. For these reasons it is crucial that botanic gardens document and curate their collections in order to gain the greatest benefit from the plants in their care. Great priority is given to making detailed field notes and the process of documentation is often continued during the plants formative years when being propagated. However, for the large majority of plants this process often stops once the material is planted in its final garden location. The Data Capture Project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is an attempt to document specific aspects of the plant collections so that the information captured can be of use to the research community even after the plants have died.

Cultivation of the genus Pelargonium under glass

This paper describes the cultivation under glass of the genus Pelargonium. The difference between Pelargonium and the other four genera in the family Geraniaceae is noted and a list of species grown at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is provided. The use of the genus in the display glasshouses at this botanic garden is described followed by notes on cultivation including watering, nutrition, pruning, pest control, and propagation. The use of pelargoniums in the commercial and medicinal industries follows.

03-P089 A simple leaf with compound gene expression: Indeterminate leaves co-express ARP and KNOX genes

03-P089 A simple leaf with compound gene expression: Indeterminate leaves co-express ARP and KNOX genes Kanae Nishii, Michael Moeller, Catherine Kidner, Alberto Spada, Raffaella Mantegazza, Hao-Chun Hsu, Toshiyuki Nagata, Chun-Neng Wang 1 National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 2 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 3 Milan University, Milan, Italy 4 Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan

Notes on Aeschynanthus (Gesneriaceae) of Sumatra, Indonesia

An inventory of Gesneriaceae in Sumatra based on herbarium specimens and field trips resulted in 17 genera. The genus Cyrtandra was the most diverse genus, followed by Aeschynanthus. Here we enumerate the species of Aeschynanthus in Sumatra. Distribution and altitudinal notes on 17 species of Aeschynanthus were made and the late Mary Mendum of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh added four more species. The only endemic species of Aeschynanthus in Sumatra is A. chrysanthus; two other species, A. albidus and A. wallichii, are widely distributed in Sumatra and the rest of Malesia.

Preliminary Observations on Fruit Handling, Seed Germination and Chloroplast Inheritance of an Amenotaxus Hybrid Arising at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from A. argotaenia (F) x A. formosana (M)

Seed quality of Amentotaxus species is generally considered to be poor. This paper describes some general observations on the collection, processing and germination of seeds of an Amentotaxus hybrid (A. argotaenia [F] 3x A. formosana [M]) that originated at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2005. It also includes the details of five different methods for incubating/culturing the hybrid seeds – three of these methods resulted in almost 100% germination. DNA analysis confirmed the hybrid origin of the seeds and in common with many conifers, chloroplast inheritance was shown to be via the paternal side.

Preliminary Observations on Fruit Handling, Seed Germination and Chloroplast Inheritance of an Amenotaxus Hybrid Arising at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from A. argotaenia (F) x A. formosana (M)

Seed quality of Amentotaxus species is generally considered to be poor. This paper describes some general observations on the collection, processing and germination of seeds of an Amentotaxus hybrid (A. argotaenia [F] 3x A. formosana [M]) that originated at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2005. It also includes the details of five different methods for incubating/culturing the hybrid seeds – three of these methods resulted in almost 100% germination. DNA analysis confirmed the hybrid origin of the seeds and in common with many conifers, chloroplast inheritance was shown to be via the paternal side.