Category Archives: Botany

Preferences

Posted on 01/04/2018 by carolinemmurray

Or are they prejudices? Did I not warm to Bologna because of the oppressive feel of the red stone buildings and the gloomy arcades, or because I don’t much like the paintings of the Bolognese school, or because I lost … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, Italy, Natural history | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Plant of the Month: March 2018

Posted on 27/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

The primroses are out in splendid fashion this year – two severe blasts of snow appear not to have cramped their style (let’s see what the third, allegedly due later this week, will do). Quintessentially plants of woodland and hedgerow, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Holwood Oaks

Posted on 22/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

It’s a complete truism that London used to be a relatively small place, with a great deal of naturally occurring ‘green belt’ both between the City and Westminster, and also between London and the surrounding villages, often used for market … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Elphamy

Posted on 02/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

Some of you may know that as well this blog, I also have a Twitter account (@Prof_hedgehog), via which I occasionally share thoughts with the universe, but more regularly tweet about things that happened #OTD, including a Saint of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Botany, Gardens, History, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Plant of the Month: February 2018

Posted on 18/02/2018 by carolinemmurray

‘In regard to plants, no one has treated this subject [natural selection] with more spirit and ability than W. Herbert, Dean of Manchester, evidently the result of his great horticultural knowledge.’ Charles Darwin, in On the Origin of Species I … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Gardens, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Legacy of Sir J.E. Smith

Posted on 08/02/2018 by carolinemmurray

A terrific bargain available once a month in London is a ‘Treasures Tour’ and visit to the Library of the Linnean Society, in Burlington House, Piccadilly. (I have now managed one way and another to get inside the Royal Astronomical … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Plant of the Month: January 2018

Posted on 21/01/2018 by carolinemmurray

The first problem I have in considering the hazel (apart from the minor detail that, in the last few days when I have been confined to bed/the house, it has been bright and sunny – ideal photographic weather – and … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Classics, Gardens, Italy, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Small But Perfectly Formed

Posted on 19/01/2018 by carolinemmurray

When I was unexpectedly cast upon the shore of the Island of Leisure, nearly three years ago now, one of the resolutions I made to myself in contemplation of the Rest of the Journey of My Life was that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Exploration, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

The Mustard Plant of the Scriptures

Posted on 05/01/2018 by carolinemmurray

Discussion of conifers and mention of David Don brings me back to Mr Aylmer Bourke Lambert (1761–1842), whose great work on the genus was published in seven parts, with plates by Ferdinand Bauer (collaborator on John Sibthorp’s Flora graeca, artist … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Plant of the Month: December 2017

Posted on 31/12/2017 by carolinemmurray

This piece runs the risk of being the most boring blog ever – even by my own soporific-tending standards. Yet it seemed a good idea at the time … I decided to take one picture every month in 2017 of … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments