Daily Archives: December 1, 2015

Saturday, December 5, 2:00 pm – Science of the Magical

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Can bird migrations foretell the future? Do phases of the moon hold sway over our lives? Are there sacred springs with curative powers? What is the best way to brew a love potion? In this Harvard Museum of Natural History interdisciplinary talk filled with tales of adventure, science journalist Matt Kaplan, author of The Science of Monsters and Science of the Magical, will explore the rich, lively, and surprising reality behind some of the magical objects, places, and ideas that infuse ancient and modern myths.

This program takes place Saturday, December 5 at 2 pm and is located at Haller Hall (enter at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street). Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Free with museum admission.

Friday, December 4, 6:45 pm – Red Needles in Green Haystacks: On the Trail of the Wild Paperbark Maple

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Dr. Michael S. Dosmann, Curator of Living Collections, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, will address the New England Botanical Club on Friday, December 4 beginning at 6:45 in Haller Hall on the Harvard University campus.  His lecture, open to the public, will be on Red Needles in Green Haystacks: On the Trail of the Wild Paperbark Maple. Since its initial introduction from China to the West by Ernest Henry Wilson in 1901, the paperbark maple (Acer griseum) has become rather common in cultivation, particularly in gardens, arboreta, and other managed ornamental landscapes. And yet, this species’ status is anything but common in the wild in central and western China. As part of a collaborative conservation initiative, the Arnold Arboretum is surveying wild populations, and comparing these with lineages introduced from the wild to get a global perspective of genetic diversity in this species. Photo courtesy of Cornell University. For further info see: http://www.rhodora.org/meetings/upcomingmeetings.html.