Gain greater confidence at identifying flowering plants using botanical keys and improve yourknowledge of plant classification and botanical terms.
About the event
This two-day course is designed for those who are familiar with several wildflowers but struggle with using a botanical key to identify unfamiliar species or species of notoriously ‘difficult’ families.
Please note that this course is for intermediates and not beginners. If you are unsure whether or not you qualify as a beginner, we strongly recommend that you start with our Beginners' Guide to Wildflower Identification on 31 May.
Participants who join this course will already be familiar with the basic botanical terms for describing plants but have become confused when these are applied to atypical families, such as the Grasses, Sedges, Daisies, Docks and Goosefoots. Similarly, they may not have grasped the specific terminology associated with these atypical families.
We shall spend some time in the classroom, covering the terms for features used in the Botanical keys for these ‘harder’ groups of plants. We shall then oscillate between classroom and outdoors working as a group (or in pairs under supervision) on keying out examples of the more challenging species.
So as to be useful to participants, we shall cover as wide a variety of types as possible and will avoid spending time fretting over sub-species and hybrids. But we hope that by the end of this course that you will feel confident in using a botanical key for tackling the identification of ANY ‘new’ species.
By the end of the course it is expected that you will have gained:
- A working knowledge of a wide range of relevant botanical terms
- A deeper insight into flowering plant classification
- Greater confidence in using scientific keys to Identification, notably of the ‘difficult’ groups of flowering plants
Led by Ros Bennett, Botanist
Suitable for improvers who might be familiar with several plant species and basic botanical terms, but who have become confused when trying to use a key to the identification of especially the more difficult groups of flowering plants. This course follows on from our Beginner's Guide to Wildflower Identification course on 31 May.
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Accessible toilet
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Parking
MORE INFORMATION
What to bring:
Notebook and pen
suitable outdoor clothing
packed lunch and something to drink.
Nothing else is essential but if you have any of the following please bring them too. (We will be using the first 3):
1.Hand lens (x 10 Magnification)
2.The Wild Flower Key by Rose and O’Reilly (Warne)
3.New Flora of the British Isles by Stace (CUP ideally 4th edit)
4.Any other plant Identification books that you may have
NB Hand lenses may be borrowed or purchased (c.£8.50) during the course and there will also be copies of Rose’s Wild Flower Key available to borrow and a few copies of the second edition of Stace.
There is now an independent café in the Barn which is usually open on Saturdays (but not Sundays) so you may be able to purchase additional refreshments there on the Saturday.
Other sites visited:
Probably just the ‘nature park’, cottage garden and maybe some roadside verges around Tyland Barn
Possibly KWT’s roadside verge nature reserve on the west side of the A229
Tyland Barn is wheelchair accessible. All surface path around wildlife garden. Disabled access to the barn and nature park. Walking distances will be very short and the pace will be gentle