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Elmar Robbrecht

@erobbrecht.bsky.social

Retired biologist, continuing research on African plants, the coffee family (#Rubiaceae) in particular. Husband, father of 3 and grandfather of 5.

Posts Replies Media

Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Autumn colours are coming. In the leaves of my grapes the chorophyll breakdown starts earlier in the mesophyll than in the venation. Beautiful pattern as a result.

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Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Linnaeus, father of scientific names of organisms, could be mean to opponents of his work. We found an example in #Rubiaceae: Anthospermum L., an insulting name for an African plant. Giulio Pontedera confused flower buds with fruits and seeds with anthers. The name “floral seed” stresses this error.

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Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

In #Biganos (France) all oaks in the city are densely covered with these conspicuous large spherical #galls with a nice crown of spines. Caused by #gallwasp Andricus quercustozae.

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Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Captivating visit to #oradoursurglane (France). On 10 June 1944 the nazis here massacred 642 innocent people and burned down the entire village. Congo, Gaza, Ukraine … Toutes les guerres se ressemblent. All #wars repeat this horror.

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Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Our living #Rubiaceae collection thrives well in its new housing in the Green Ark of Meise Botanic Garden. Sabicea venosa with coloured calyces (semaphylls) and Mitriostigma axillare with secundary pollen presentation.

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Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Next to arabica and robusta there are dozens of other #Coffea species, with tremendous morphological and chemical diversity. Kapakata coffee from Angola has peculiar ribbed fruits.

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Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Meise Botanic Garden carries out projects to ensure a safe future for the cultivation of #coffee in our changing world. www.tijd.be/ondernemen/v...

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Reposted by Elmar Robbrecht

Brecht Verstraete @brechtverstraete.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

However, the Latin caelum can also mean "vault of heaven", referring to the celestial vault in ancient cosmology. So, the original spelling does refer to the arched seeds and is therefore correct.

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Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

We explained why the original spelling of the name Caelospermum should be retained. This genus of the #Rubiaceae is found in Southeast Asia and Oceania. doi.org/10.3897/phyt...

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Elmar Robbrecht @erobbrecht.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

I discovered this peculiar and remarkable view on our Botanic Garden: revenant.uniri.hr?p=1176. I warmly recommend its reading.

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