Identifying dandelions, daisies and thistles

Please note: this event has been CANCELLED

Wed 8 July 2020

Botanic Garden

A two-day session designed for new botanists exploring the glories of these native plants. By the end of July many of our finest native plants have finished flowering, with the notable exception of glorious shows of thistles, ragworts, dandelions and mayweeds – a great time therefore to concentrate on the Asteraceae or the Compositae as we used to call them. The Botanic Garden harbours a rich selection of members of these families. Studying garden species often helps to put our native species into better perspective.

The Asteraceae is the biggest flowering plant family in the world and is also the family that is most strongly represented in the British Isles. It therefore seems appropriate for anyone seriously interested in our native flora to feel confident in identifying them.

Despite the apparent confusion between hawkweeds and hawkbits, mayweeds and chamomiles, this is not in fact a difficult task! Much of the course will be devoted to helping participants increase their confidence and competence in using scientific keys to identify the look-alikes that are such a notorious feature of this family.

This course has been designed for those who have previously shied away from these notorious look-alikes. It is not designed for the more advanced botanist who may wish to learn to distinguish between the different microspecies of Hieracium (Hawkweeds) and Taraxacum (Dandelions).

Ros Bennett is a freelance botanist and ecologist. She has been teaching courses on wild flower identification to professionals, amateurs and beginners from all age groups for over 40 years, both at home and abroad. And she is passionate about thistles!

Cost: £130