The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot in southern Africa’s eastern region holds the highest tree diversity of any of the world’s temperate forests, with nearly 600 tree species represented. In total, about 8,100 species of plants from 243 families occur within this hotspot, and nearly a quarter of these are found nowhere else [Conservation International]. Botanist, artist, author, and guide Elsa Pooley has spent years identifying, studying, painting, and cataloging the flora of this second richest floristic region in Africa and an important center of plant endemism. She will speak about some of the Hotspot’s most interesting habitats and the plants found there, with a primary focus on its trees, on Thursday, September 19 at 6:30 at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum. $10 for the general public, free to Arboretum members. Register at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/SelectDate.aspx.
