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Alastair Culham

@thebotanist.bsky.social
271 followers 145 following 91 posts

Life through botany goggles. Botany, phylogeny, plants, horticulture. Enjoys baking. Has a pet red eared terrapin.

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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Last week, I met Hydrolea spinosa (photo) at Cambridge Botanic Garden. Tomorrow, I'll hear a talk on taxonomy of Hydroleaceae at Edinburgh Botanic Garden. The family has 1 genus & 11 species. Part of Solanales. This species doesn't even have its own Wikipedia page :( @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social
Bright purple/blue flower with five petals and prominent stamens arising from herb with ovate hairy leaves.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Not a typical British front garden!
bbc.co.uk
Gardener's delight after giant rare plant flowers in Hartford - BBC News
A man says he is overjoyed that an agave americana has bloomed after 20 years in his front garden.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
A nail biting Botanical University Challenge semi-final between Reading and Plymouth. Plymouth won on the fourth tiebreak question. Congratulations Plymouth!
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
Botanical University Challenge Semi final 1 is about to start. www.youtube.com/live/bX_sdw1... Follow luve on You Tube #Botany #Plants
Audience for BUC in Sainsbury Centre Lecture theatre.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Drimia/Squilla coming in to flower in Gozo. It amazes me how plants can invest such energy into flowering in the peak dry season. #geophyte #Asparagaceae #Bulb
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Visited Comino today. Pancratium maritimum in bloom. My first ever experience of a rubbish bin dedicated to waste pineapples. Instagram craze of pineapple based cocktails on Comino, Blue Lagoon. No idea why. There is a somewhat whimsical 'history' of the craze here lovinmalta.com/opinion/sati...
A plastic wheelie bin with label 'Kindly dispose pineapple here'. Sea daffodil flowers.
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Botanical University Challenge @bucbotany.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
🌱🌾🌍🍄🌺🌿🧪What is it actually like to work and study for a PhD degree? Read one woman's account in latest newsletter from Botanical University Challenge #BUC2025. @drmgoeswild.bsky.social @thebotanist.bsky.social
Extract about PhD study. See full article  https://botanicaluniversitychallenge.co.uk/the-thymes/
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
As a long-time Cyclamen researcher, this is my first encounter with a cheese named Cyclamen! Looking forward to tasting it!
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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 24/07/2025
UK heatwaves led to hosepipe bans across the country. With limited watering opportunities, which garden plants should we prioritise? @thebotanist.bsky.social writes for @theconversation.com: theconversation.com/hosepipe-ban... 🧪🌍🌱💧
theconversation.com
Hosepipe ban survival guide: which garden plants to save and which to sacrifice
The expert guide to triaging your garden through a water shortage.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
More on droughted gardens theconversation.com/hosepipe-ban...
theconversation.com
Hosepipe ban survival guide: which garden plants to save and which to sacrifice
The expert guide to triaging your garden through a water shortage.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
What happens when you photograph a plant next to a mooring bollard and ask AI to identify it? You get told you've photographed a mushroom. What i was siming for was Carduus tenuiflorus. Context is crucial.
Carduus tenuiflorus flowering next to a white painted metal bollard.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
doi.org/10.1002/ppp3... out today! It's great to write about an area of #Botany that is growing. @seburbanbotany.bsky.social @herbarium.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @botsocamerica.bsky.social
doi.org
The Botanical University Challenge: Bridging isolation and empowering plant‐aware students
Societal Impact Statement In some indigenous languages, plants are referred to as ‘those who care for us’, reflecting their essential role in tackling global challenges. Yet, urbanisation and other ...
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
Are you looking for a PhD post for September 2025? Fieldwork, computational & molecular biology skills will be developed in this project to understand climate change & speciation. Applications by 20th January.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
#PhD available for UK student on phylogeny of paleotropical #Acanthaceae with @iaindarbyshire1.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Start September 2025, applications open now.
findaphd.com
CR2025_41: The diversity and evolutionary history of the shrimp plants (Acanthaceae: Justiciinae) in the palaeotropics. at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - CR2025_41: The diversity and evolutionary history of the shrimp plants (Acanthaceae: Justiciinae) in the palaeotropics. at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Tim Utteridge @timutteridge.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
IAPT Grants www.iaptglobal.org/grants
iaptglobal.org
IAPT | Grants
The IAPT provides competitive grants for research on the taxonomy, systematics and nomenclature of plants, algae and fungi and to support botanical collections.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Botany PhD available via CROCUS DLP. www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Open to UK & overseas applicants with interest in botany, evolution, genetics.
findaphd.com
CR2025_48: The mystery of widespread endemics: why do some species spread while others don’t? at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - CR2025_48: The mystery of widespread endemics: why do some species spread while others don’t? at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
The HTA just released the latest Unlocking Green Growth reports - It makes me feel good to be a Botanist! Lots here of relevance to botanists and environmental scientists. Our University of Reading alumnus Alistair Griffiths has been closely involved in much of this work. hta.org.uk/policy/resea...
hta.org.uk
Research Documents and Policy Papers
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
It's UN #WorldToiletDay. As usual, plants got there first -several Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants) adapted to benefit from poo. N. lowii, N. rajah & N. macrophylla absorb rodent fecal matter while N. hemsleyi eats bat poo. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... academic.oup.com/aob/article/...
tandfonline.com
Mutualism between tree shrews and pitcher plants
Three species of Nepenthes pitcher plants from Borneo engage in a mutualistic interaction with mountain tree shrews, the basis of which is the exchange of nutritional resources. The plants produce ...
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 15/10/2024
Peat free cultivation of Sarracenia - trials at Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley. Seen on Saturday. It looks as if Schnell's 1970s recommendation to use Sphagnum still holds true!
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Botanical University Challenge @bucbotany.bsky.social · 14/07/2024
🌱🌍🌿🍄🌾 In Defense of Plants is a great podcast from Matt Candeias. Interviews with conservation biologists, lab scientists - all with fascinating stories about plants. Based in USA but includes plants and topics of world-wide interest. indefenseofplants.com
Screenshot of home page of In Defense of Plants podcast. Art Deco style drawing of 2 Sarracenia leaves and an orchid flower.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 12/03/2024
Currently at #MonocotsVII in San Jose, Costa Rica. Had nearly a whole day of mycoheterotrophs - Thismia & Corallorhiza among others.
Garden in front of National Convention Center with palms, plumeria, cycads and more.Me in front of giant bamboo plant.Conference hall at break time with coffee urns, food and lots of botanists milling around.Tom Givnish opening Monocots VII at wooden lecturn with conference banner.
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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 23/02/2024
Magnolia denudata (#Magnoliaceae) is another beetle-pollinated species. The pollinators are large #Coleoptera (#Scarabaeidae). The thermal image shows that the stamens & carpels heat up. AOX respiration generates the heat. Thermal image from bit.ly/3S58s0V #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪
Composite plate. Photo of a single, large white flower by Juuyoh Tanaka CC BY 2.0
The lower panel of images, including thermal image, is from: Wang, R. et al. 2022. Heat production and volatile biosynthesis are linked via alternative respiration in Magnolia denudata during floral thermogenesis. Front. Plant Sci. 13:955665. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.955665
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 29/02/2024
Happy bissextile day 🙂
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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 27/02/2024
Each nut of Hernandia sp. (#Hernandiaceae) is subtended by a white, cup-shaped bract. When the fruits drop, the bracts act like boats, ferrying the fruits away. Once in New Guinea, I waded through a shallow pool covered by rafts of tiny Hernandia boats. #dispersal #hydrochory #Botany 🌾🧪
Photo of three fruits floating in water. The fruits are borne in white cupules.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 17/02/2024
Congratulations to Tomos Jones, University of Reading, Biology for passing his PhD on gardens as a source of invasive plants. #gardenescapers #invasives @herbarium.bsky.social @drmgoeswild.bsky.social
Four smiling adults standing in a building next to a parlour palm.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 10/01/2024
It's National Houseplant Appreciation Day. This Cymbidium is in flower in my conservatory after a summer in the garden. I'll make sure I appreciate it! @drmgoeswild.bsky.social
Cymbidium with spray of green flowers, each with lip of cream with red flecks.
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Holly Moeller @mixotrophe.bsky.social · 29/11/2023
I am *thrilled* to finally announce that our department is hiring an Evolutionary Biologist. We are esp looking genetic/genomic expertise, and those who can help us build a more equitable biology community at UCSB. Please apply by Jan 15! recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02635 #unicornjob
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu
Assistant Professor of Evolutionary Biology
University of California Santa Barbara is hiring. Apply now!
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Dr Suzanne Moss @drsuemoss.bsky.social · 28/11/2023
🌷MAKE A DIFFERENCE🌷 We have FIVE @The_RHS Senior Management roles available in Learning and Engagement! 🌻 Head of National Community Programmes 🌺 Head of Public Engagement 🪻 Head of Learning ⚘️ Head of Professional Programmes 🪷 Head of Engagement Development Info 👇
Lady planting a grass. Image credit RHS
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 26/11/2023
Interested in a postdoc fellowship using the amazing herbarium collections of University of Cambridge Herbarium? Cambridge Plant Sciences is organising an open day on Feb 7th 2024 to support applicants. Send your statement of interest by Dec 1st 2023. More info: plantsci.cam.ac.uk/news/departmen…
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 21/11/2023
How do gardeners define invasive plant species? doi.org/10.1016/j.en... Our survey suggests gardeners have quite a sophisticated approach. 🌱 🌿
doi.org
Redirecting
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
University of Reading is lucky enough to have an original Herefordshire Pomona. The 'Carrion Apple' pictured here was so called because the oldest tree was used to hang meat for dogs. Also known as 'Kempley Red' which sounds rather nicer. 🙂🌱🌿 @konyveskalman.bsky.social
Open pages of a book showing colour plates of apples on the left and text about the carrion apple on the right.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
@ryanclarkecology.bsky.social welcome to Bluesky!
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Mason Heberling @jmheberling.bsky.social · 16/11/2023
Attention history of botany fans: there’s a fiction novel with Michel Adanson as lead character! A great read. www.nytimes.com/2023/09/14/b...
nytimes.com
The Haunting Past of a Pioneering 18th-Century Botanist
In his novel “Beyond the Door of No Return,” David Diop explores the secret life of Michel Adanson, who cataloged the natural world during the Enlightenment.
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Mike Moore @gypsumbotany.bsky.social · 17/11/2023
Important new study about gypsum ecosystems in Campeche, Yucatán Peninsula, México—a country that never ceases to amaze. Gypsum in tropical forests, with two likely gypsophile plants as well, including a Lantana! doi.org/10.1017/S026...
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 18/11/2023
We hope this probeset for target capture phylogenetics in the coffee ☕️ family is useful to others working with #Rubiaceae. We tested it with newly sequenced data in two distantly related clades (Palicoureeae + Psychotrieae, and Hillieae) and bioinformatically across #Rubiaceae.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 18/11/2023
I've got a research interest in Cyclamen so was intrigued to see this Djix cultivar in a garden centre this morning. The petals stick out rather than being reflexed giving an attractive contrast between petals and sepals. schoneveld-breeding.com/en/on-displa... 🌱 #Botany
Cyclamen with exclusive DJIX label.Pink-red cyclamen petals contrasting with broad white sepals.Individual flower of Cyclamen DJIX showing alternating white sepals and pink petals.
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Sachs Museum at Missouri Botanical Garden @mobotmuseum.bsky.social · 10/11/2023
More from the artists Marchand and Sobsey on #ThisEarthenDoor @mobotmuseum.bsky.social #plants #art #anthotype #EmilyDickinson www.stltoday.com/life-enterta...
stltoday.com
Exhibit at MoBot shows photographs made entirely from plants
The 19th century process has been revised as a way of exploring some of the plants poet Emily Dickinson grew in her own garden.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 12/11/2023
Coelogyne trinervis is flowering in my greenhouse. The smell has the amine odour of chestnut flowers. Not one to bring in to the house! 🌱 #Botany #orchid
Green and cream outer tepals of this orchid flower with a brown labellum. The floral scent had been described as both strong and seminiferous.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 09/11/2023
www.theguardian.com/culture/2023...
theguardian.com
UK museums agree to collective action to tackle the climate crisis
UK Museum Cop held at Tate Modern says the sector has a ‘responsibility to speak out about climate and biodiversity crisis’
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 09/11/2023
Cyclamen confusum (Grey-Wilson) Culham, Jope, P.Moore- I've seen this in cultivation, DNA sequenced it but this week was the first time in the wild. powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:ls... Sirikari Gorge maps.app.goo.gl/Da3Pt46JYedL...
Deep green shiny heart shaped leaf with toothed edges and silver mottling.Deep green shiny heart shaped leaf with toothed edges and silver mottling.Very pale pink flower with deep pink patched between auricles.Very pale pink flower with deep pink patches extending up narrow petals between auricles.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 07/11/2023
Cyclamen graecum leaves today in Crete. Leaves from just one population! 🌱 The flowers are fairly uniform in mid to light pink.
Dark green heart shaped leaves with prominent silver veins.Dark green heart shaped leaves with silver heart in centre.Mid green leaves with dark green centre.Very dark green leaf edge with silver-white centre.
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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 06/11/2023
Although #Aspidistra spp. are similar in vegetative morphology, floral morphology is off the charts. This plate is 9 years old & doesn’t include the dozens of species described since 2014. Source: Tillich, H.-J. 2014. Taiwania 59(1): 1–8. DOI: 10.6165/tai.2014.59.1 #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪
Plate from a journal article showing 17 photos of the startling variation in flowers of Aspidistra.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 05/11/2023
#Wildflowerhour still in Crete - so much to report! Adiantum capillus-veneris, Ephedra foeminea, Crithmum maritimum, Phoenix theophrasti. 🌱
Fern with black rachis and light green pinnae.Thin green stems and bright pink fruit.Yellow fruit on compound umbels emerging from rock crevice.Palm trees with globular heads of fronds
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 05/11/2023
#wildflowerhour in Crete this week. Narcissus deficiens, Prospero autumnale, Cyclamen graecum subsp. candicum, Biarum davisii. All seen in flower today. Collections for @herbarium.bsky.social. 🌱🌿
White flower with six elliptic-ovate tepals and central orange corona.Small cluster of lilac flowers with deep purple anthers.White flowers with reflexed petals and deep pink petal bases.Tubular creamy-brown spathe surrounding dark brown spadix.
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wildflowerhour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social · 05/11/2023
Beautiful! 😍
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 04/11/2023
Spectacular views while botanising in Zaros gorge & Rouvas forest today. On the way up everyone we passed said "it's really windy up there." It was! Crete has so much scenery they've had to fold the landscape to fit it all in😁 🌱🌿 #botany
Spectacular view between pine trees down valley to Zaros and the mountains beyond.Large boulders about head height with occasional red paint marks to indicate the path.Wooden bridge over gorge.Looking along the gorge at the winding path.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 04/11/2023
Prospero autumnale agg. ✅ Muscari comosum (Leopoldia comosa)✅ Drimia maritima ✅ Sterbergia lutea subsp. lutea ✅ Cyclamen creticum ❎ - it's spring flowering but hoping for leaves. Above Zaros lake, Crete. 🌱🌿 #botany Fieldwork for @herbarium.bsky.social
Small six tepalled flower in light lilacDry seedheads on brown stalk against limestone rock.Tall dry spike of brown seed pods on long bare stem.Bright butter yellow flowers against white limestone.
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Markus Wagner @wagnermarkus.bsky.social · 03/11/2023
So nice to find a portrait of botanist Margaret Bradshaw on today's Guardian website. A true legend who earlier this year published a lovely book on the Teesdale flora. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Just keep going’: the horse-riding 97-year-old botanist battling for England’s wildflowers
Margaret Bradshaw has spent decades studying Teesdale – and is fighting to preserve its unique mix of plants
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 03/11/2023
Did the olive trunk inspire the ancient pillar design? Near the Temple of Apollo, Gortina. #Fieldwork #Botany 🌱 Drimia maritima in plenty around here. @herbarium.bsky.social
Ancient olive with spirally twisted trunk.Stone column carved with spiral pattern.Numerous stems of Drimia in fruit.
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Alastair Culham @thebotanist.bsky.social · 02/11/2023
Today's botanical treats in Crete. Drimia numidica, Muscari comosum (Leopoldia comosa), Prospero autumnale agg. X2 Part of research @herbarium.bsky.social on climate change and Mediterranean plant evolution. @konyveskalman.bsky.social
Tight clusters of white flowers on pink stems.Dry brown seedhead on rocky ground.Pale pink flowers on slender stem.Pale blue flowers on slender stem.
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