Education Group

We started our identification courses with a pilot basic course in 2002. Following on that success we have expanded our programme and hope to expand it more. We have found that there is a great demand for our special offering, a rigorous, scientific approach to species identification.

Some comments about previous years' courses

• I was completely bowled over by the beauty and intricacy of nature; it changed my whole perception.
• Well-thought out and carefully planned; there was always a tutor around when needed.
• The course is great as it is; I cannot suggest any improvements!
• To look back now and realise the breadth of information that has been passed during the course. Thank you for the excellent tuition.
• The tutors made the whole experience very enjoyable. The work was hard but the attitude happy and light-hearted.
• Thank you for an extremely enjoyable course. I have learnt a lot and it has given me a lot of confidence to practise my skills and develop my knowledge further.
• Being able to use Stace seems like a huge jump forward.
• I enjoyed the informality and the friendliness of the tutors.

The basic course is open to all and our continuation courses are open to our alumni and those who have a similar level of experience.

2009

Basic Plant Identification Course

Saturday mornings from 10.00 until 1.00 on 4th April, 9th May, 6th June, 4th July, 1st August, 5th September

The course aims to teach the function and use of a botanical dichotomous key, a knowledge of the technical terms used in keys and plant descriptions and a knowledge of some of the main families of vascular plants. The course will use a mixture of short lectures, and guided individual and group or paired practical sessions. Note that the emphasis is on identification rather than recognition.

We shall start, assuming no knowledge, with easier-to-identify families and we shall deal with more difficult families as the year progresses, including the grasses, the daisy, cabbage and carrot families.

The course book will be Stace, A New Flora of the British Isles.

Latin for Botany

Saturdays 24th January and 31st January from 10.00 until 1.00

Dr Stephen Harris, Druce Curator of the University Herbaria will look at the ways in which scientific names of plants can give clues to their origins or identification. Classification and nomenclature will be explained and the structure of botanical words examined. No set books are needed for this course but you may be interested to look at Plant Names Simplified, Johnson and Smith, Landsmans Bookshop.

Botanical Painting

Saturday 14th February from 10.00 until 4.00

Caroline Jackson-Houlston, a member of the Society of Botanical Artists and also of the Society of Floral Painters, will be teaching some of the rudiments of botanical illustration in water-colour. (There is a list of equipment for this course which we will send to you when you register for it.)

All about Keys

Saturday 21st February from 10.00 until 1.00

We shall spend this session looking at the different types of botanical key that can be encountered and working on key construction in order to enhance understanding.

Aquatic Plants

Saturdays 23rd May and 20th June from 10.00 until 1.00

This two-session course is being held for the second time. Its aim is to identify aquatic plants in the classroom and gain some insight into the ways in which they are adapted to their environment. The book used for this course in addition to Stace's New Flora of the British Isles, is British Water Plants, Sylvia Haslam, Charles Sinker and Pat Wolseley, FSC. Microscopes will be used and hand lenses will be essential.

Sedges

Saturday 11th July from 10.00 until 4.00

The morning will be spent indoors learning characteristics useful for identifying sedges. This will be followed by an afternoon in the field. It may be useful, in addition to Stace's New Flora of the British Isles, to bring along a copy of the BSBI Handbook on Sedges.

Ferns

Saturday 19th September from 10.00 until 1.00

John Edgington will be joining the Education Group team for this course. The set book will be Stace's New Flora of the British Isles.

Email Course information for information about this year's courses.

We are always interested to hear suggestions for future courses so email us if you have a wish list.

Plans for 2010

Watch this space to find out our plans for 2010.

Our previous continuation courses:

• Sedges (twice)
• Grasses (three times)
• Willows and Poplars
• Chalk Grassland
• Aquatics
• Herbarium Skills
• Digital Photography for Botanists
• Ferns
• Vegetative Identification
• Yellow Composites
• Charophytes
• Conifers
• Basic Botany
• Woody Plant Families