Improve your botanical ID skills

Learn about plant science and ecology

 

Open for enrolments

Online flexible training with mentor support

Modular format means you can enrol on one or all four modules of your choice

suitable for hobby botanists, conservation volunteers and professionals

To learn more go to http://qualiteach.co.uk/training.htm

 

Online Botany and Ecology Course
Botany and its role in the ecosystem

The course is open for enrolments.  Apologies to anyone who experienced difficulties with enrolling, this has now been resolved. 

The course is flexible and modular with mentor support and covers:

• Plant science
• Botanical identification
• Taxonomy
• Habitats 

For more information, check out the Training page at 
http://www.qualiteach.co.uk/training.htm 
or contact Lorna or Richard on 07743712020 or email contact@qualiteach.co.uk

Harbinger of Spring #2 Cuckooflower

The County flower of Cheshire, common names for Cardamine pratensis include Cuckooflower, Lady's Smock and Milk Maids. The species name 'pratensis' refers to the meadow habitat in which it grows.

 Harbinger of Spring

 Celandine (Ficaria verna) - the name is derived from the ancient Greek word for the bird 'swallow' which pertains to the time of year that it grows (growing when swallows arrive in early spring). The species name 'verna' relates to Spring (vernal).

Symbiosis: plants & insects

Plants are vital as shelter, perches and food for insects and, in return, the insects provide a service to the plants by helping to disperse seed and pollen. 

This symbiotic relationship is a vital link in the food chain.

Updated: Broad leaved Everlasting Pea

The Mosses with the Mostest

Not Bog Standard....

Peat bogs take hundreds or even thousands of years to form being made up of vegetation typical of acid bog environments, such as Sphagnum mosses, that have not fully decayed due to the acidic conditions (some bogs are entirely rain-fed so nutrient and oxygen poor, rather than gaining nutrients from ground water sources).

Sphagnum moss bogs as carbon stores and methane recyclers are vital to our atmosphere; they help to clean water running through the mosses and also help to prevent flooding in lowland areas. 


This habitat is vulnerable to human interference and can either dry out (through water diversion or tree planting) or become enriched which changes the plant species and subsequently the invertebrates that live there.  This is why the conservation of acid bog habitats is so important.