Boston Flora

Tag: Jim Gorman

  • Tuesday, June 14, 5:30 pm – From Lichens to Lindens: A Walk Through Plant Evolution

    The botanical family tree has been dramatically rewritten in recent years, as DNA analysis has brought a refined understanding of how plants evolved from primitive forms.  Robin Hazard Ray and Jim Gorman will lead a botanical tour through Mount Auburn Cemetery on Tuesday, June 14, beginning at 5:30 pm, to demonstrate the cemetery’s diverse plant collection, victors of the struggle for survival over geologic time.  $5 for Friends of Mount Auburn, $10 for non-members.  To register, call 617-607-1952, or email Michelle Pizzillo at mpizzillo@mountauburn.org.  Photo by Alida Thorpe.

  • Saturday, June 4, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – E.H. Wilson: A Century Past

    It’s been one hundred years since Wilson returned from his last major Chinese collecting expedition.  Wilson is credited with introducing over one thousand Asian plants into Western horticulture, including the paperbark maple, regal lily, Chinese tulip tree, and beautybush.  Learn more about this fascinating explorer and view a selection of Wilson’s introductions growing at the Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway in Boston, including some grown from seeds he collected, on Saturday, June 4, from 1 – 2:30, on a walking tour led by Jim Gorman.  The walk is free, and for more information call 617-384-5209.

  • Sunday, April 17, 1:00 pm – Plants from the Bible

    The Friends of Mount Auburn would like to welcome you to visit Mount Auburn Cemetery on Sunday, April 17, beginning at 1 pm, for a walking tour entitled Plants from the Bible.  Jim Gorman will identify plants known with either certainty or probability to be growing in Biblical times.  Additionally, he may visit closely allied species – relatives of plants mentioned in the Scriptures.  Consider this tour a walking recollection of the Holy Land.  The fee is $5 for Friends of Mount Auburn, $10 for non-members.  For more information, call 617-607-1952.  Below is spikenard, from Song of Songs.

  • Sunday, December 5, 1:00 pm – New England Champions

    Join Mount Auburn Cemetery Visitor Services Assistant Jim Gorman on Sunday, December 5 at 1:00 pm for a walk through Mount Auburn, an arboretum of national importance, to view its numerous trees that have been measured as the largest specimens of their respective species found within New England.  Rain or shine.  Admission is $5 for Friends of Mount Auburn, $10 for non-members.  Mount Auburn Cemetery is located at 580 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, and more information may be found at www.mountauburn.org, or by calling 617-876-4405.  Photo below of Camperdown elm by Monkeyfilter.

  • Thursday, November 18, 12:00 noon – Darwin’s American Champion: Asa Gray, Louis Agassiz, and The Debate over Evolution

    Following Darwin’s breakthrough on the theory of evolution in 1859, two of Harvard’s leading men of science squared off.  Biologist Louis Agassiz rejected evolution, keeping to his theory of multiple divine creations, while botanist Asa Gray (pictured below,) whose bicentennial is November 18, became Darwin’s chief champion in America.  Mount Auburn Cemetery Docent Robin Hazard Ray and Visitor Services Assistant Jim Gorman will discuss the  history of this conflict, and Gray’s research on the plants of eastern Asia that convinced him of Darwin’s theories, on Thursday, November 18, beginning at 12 noon.

    This program is part of Mount Auburn’s “Brown Bag Lunch Series.”  Bring your lunch and enjoy this lunch and learn opportunity.  During the fall and winter Mount Auburn staff and volunteers will present a series of free hour-long talks to shed light on the lives of those buried here.  All talks take place in Story Chapel.  Coffee and tea are provided, and the program is free.  Mount Auburn is located at 580 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, and for more information, log on to www.mountauburn.org, or call 617-607-1981.

  • Sunday, November 14, 1:00 pm – Monarchs of Mount Auburn

    Deeply rooted in our cultural history, the oak tree is often equated with strength and permanency.  Join Mount Auburn Visitor Services Assistant Jim Gorman for a walk to survey some of these aged monarchs (some of them even pre-date Mount Auburn) and recount oak facts and lore.  This rain or shine event will take place Sunday, November 14 beginning at 1:00 pm.  Admission is $5 for Mt. Auburn members, $10 for non-members.  Mount Auburn Cemetery is located at 580 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, and for more information you may call 617-607-1981. Picture below courtesy of Vulgare.

  • Sunday, June 6, 2:00 pm – America’s Arboreal Bequest

    Take a walking tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery on Sunday, June 6, beginning at 2 pm, with Jim Gorman, a Lecturer at the Boston Architectural College and a Volunteer Docent at Mount Auburn. From the 1530’s onward, explorers and plant collectors reveled in the rich botanical diversity found in the newly discovered United States. Join Jim and help examine a sampling of trees and shrubs once craved for scientific, economic, ornamental and medicinal uses and listen as he recalls some illustrious plant collectors. $5 members; $10 non-members.  For more information, log on to www.mountauburn.org.  The image below may depict the Japanese maples planted at the Boston Public Library main branch courtyard and later moved to Mount Auburn.

    http://www.frogsonice.com/photos/may-mt-auburn/japanese-maple.jpg