Boston Flora

Tag: Gordon Morrison

  • Saturday, May 5, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – A Natural Curiosity: A Retrospective of Images by Gordon Morrison

    Attend a reception this Saturday, May 5, from 1 – 3 at the Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall at the Arnold Arboretum, in honor of the opening of a new art show, A Natural Curiosity: A Retrospective of Images by Gordon Morrison. From Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide to The Curious Naturalist magazine, from the Garden in the Woods in Framingham to the Missouri Botanical Gardens tropical rainforest exhibit, Gordon Morrison has been reflecting and illuminating the natural world for over four decades. This retrospective focuses largely on his botanical work, highlighting the best of the thousands of illustrations he has done for education and conservation organizations.  The show will run through July 1, and there will be an artist’s talk on Wednesday, June 27, from 7 – 8:30 pm.

  • Saturday, December 3, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm – Flora Novae Angliae

    The New England Wild Flower Society hosts a lecture and book signing with Arthur Haines at Garden in the Woods on Saturday, December 3, from 1:30 – 3:30.  Illustrators Elizabeth Farnsworth and Gordon Morrison will also attend. New England Wild Flower Society is thrilled to announce that after nine years of field, herbarium, and literature study Flora Novae Angliae, a Manual for the Identification of Native and Naturalized Higher Vascular Plants of New England, has been published by Yale University Press.

    This 1,008 page book is the definitive publication for the study and identification of the plants of New England. Join the author for a discussion of the underlying philosophies, a look at some of the research and novel finds on which the manual was written, and discussion of the many collaborators (and their exciting finds) who helped make the book possible. The lecture will present fascinating botanical information pertinent to each state in New England.

    This partly illustrated work presents the latest in nomenclatural, taxonomic, and distribution information for New England’s tracheophytes (i.e., higher vascular plants). The manual makes a departure from its predecessors in several respects. First, well-supported information was incorporated into the text, regardless of how unpopular it may have been viewed. Second, many thousands of herbarium specimens were reviewed to verify not only recent collections but the early ones as well. Third, identification keys were written, where possible, with focus on characteristics that do not display substantial phenotypic (i.e., environmental) variation. And fourth, all hybrid plants that could be verified as part of the New England flora were included (rather than just the well-known or named ones). These underlying philosophies have contributed to building a floristic manual with many substantial changes from earlier works covering the region.

    Arthur Haines stated, “The initial view of this manual may be one of greater complexity, but the goal was simply to write a manual that reflected, as accurately as plant taxonomists understood, our best understanding of the species growing on the New England landscape.”  After the lecture, the author will be joined by the two illustrators, Elizabeth Farnsworth and Gordon Morrison, for a book signing in the Garden Shop at Garden in the Woods.  Please RSVP if you plan to attend the December 3 lecture by calling the registrar at 508-877-7630, ext 3303.

  • Wednesdays, July 14 and July 21, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Identifying Natives with Newcomb’s

    Learn to use Lawrence Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide for the first time or revisit an old friend to understand why this book remains one of the most popular and useful field guides for a non-botanist (botanists like it too). With its unique key, short accurate descriptions, and sensitive drawings by Gordon Morrison, you will be able to identify both woody and herbaceous native plants from rare wild flowers to tiny interesting weeds. Even if you have used this book before, you will enjoy getting to know about Newcomb’s history, his close observations in the field and in his own garden that helped him create a book light enough to carry, yet filled with 1,375 wildflowers, shrubs and vines of the Northeastern United States. Receive a solid grounding in “Newcomb’s,” which will serve you well as you take other botany courses in the New England Wild Flower Society’s Certificate Program.  The classes will be held on Wednesday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 21, from 10 – 12:30, at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, and are taught by Carol Govan, a past speaker at  Garden Club of the Back Bay meetings.  NEWFS member fee is $55, $65 for nonmembers, and you may register at www.newfs.org.

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