Identification of Highland Plants

This course has been cancelled.

If you wish to be able to confidently identify a plant, without its picture, this is the course for you. Pictures have their places but can be misleading and are not always available. Formal identification involves using keys to families, genera and species and then comparing the specimen with a detailed description. It provides an understaning of the diagnostic features and the the system classification, allowing an unfamiliar specimen to be put into context. It also extends the possibility of finding a rare species which may not be in the picture book! The evolutionary basis of classification will be described, with emphasis on vascular and particularly flowering plants. The use of keys and Floras will be demonstrated in the laboratory and diagnostic features will be examined, using hand lenses or microscopes as necessary. A series of short excursions will allow these skills to be put into practice in the field. A printed manual is provided. Further details are available on request, either from Kindrogan or via the links at ‘enquiringmind.org’.

Bob Callow is an experienced botanist, university teacher and past tutor with the Open University. He has run courses in plant ecology for Manchester University over a period of more than 25 years. Many of these have taken place at Kindrogan.

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