Boston Flora

Tag: Natural History

  • Thursday, December 1, 12:00 noon – Maria Sibylla Merian: A Biologist to the Bone, Online

    The aesthetic appeal of the images created by Maria Sibylla Merian (German, 1647-1717) has led history to label her as an artist who painted and etched natural history subjects. However, Merian was as passionate a naturalist (biologist in modern terms) as Charles Darwin or Carl Linnaeus, and like all scientists, she was impelled by her curiosity about nature.

    Merian was the first person to spend decades studying the relationships of insects and plants, and her work revolutionized what came to be the field of ecology. Kay Etheridge, professor emeritus of biology at Gettysburg College, draws on Merian’s own words to consider her motivations in the context of her time and place, and discusses Merian’s body of work in comparison to that of her near-contemporaries working in natural history. The Smithsonian Associates online lecture takes place December 1 beginning at noon and is $20 for Smithsonian members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org.

  • Tuesday, March 8, 7:40 pm – Evolutionary Origins of Myrmecochory: Clues from Two Continents

    The next meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club will be held on Tuesday March 8 at 7:40 PM in room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Oxford Street, Cambridge. Please note that the meeting will begin 10 minutes later than normal. David Lubertazzi will present a talk entitled Evolutionary Origins of Myrmecochory: Clues from Two Continents.  David, who is President of the Club, is a postdoctoral fellow  creating species pages for the Global Ant Project, and has described a Pyramica from Florida.

    Myrmecochory is a mutualism that provides food to ants and seed dispersal benefits to plants. Studies examining these interactions have provided important insights in ant biology, plant biology and a diversity of topics in ecology and evolutionary biology. This talk will present details about the natural history of two ant species that play important roles in dispersing seeds within their native habitats. Common characteristics of these ants will then be shown to form the
    basis for a new hypothesis to explain how myrmecochory first evolved.

    The meeting is free and open to the public. Snacks will be provided and you are also welcome to join us at 6:15 PM for an informal pre-meeting dinner at Harkness Commons, in the law school cafeteria on the second floor. For more information, email David Lubertazzi at lubertazzi@gmail.com.

  • Wednesday, December 1, 1:00 – 3:00 pm – Wreaths from the Wild

    Get ready for the Garden Club of the Back Bay’s annual wreath making week (a detail of one of our wreaths is seen below)  by trekking out to the Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge for this hands on workshop on Wednesday, December 1, from 1 – 3 pm.

    Create a beautiful evergreen wreath for the holidays, using the bounty of the fields and forests of the Berkshires. Learn about the natural history of common and not-so-common plants that can be used to create interesting holiday decorations. Consider a wide selection of plant material including: evergreen boughs, berries, seedpods, fern fronds and moss. Construct and take home a simple evergreen wreath. Take it home and the knowledge to create wreaths for holidays to come. Elisabeth Cary is the Director of Education at the Berkshire Botanical Garden and has been collecting plant materials from the wild and creating wreaths for over fifteen years. The cost of this workshop is $40 for BBG members, $45 for non members, and the materials are included in the cost of the class.  Bring pruners and gloves.  To register, or for more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Wednesday, December 2, 1:00 – 3:00 pm – Wreaths from the Wild

    Get ready for the Garden Club of the Back Bay’s annual wreath making week by trekking out to the Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge for this hands on workshop on Wednesday, December 2, from 1 – 3 pm.

    Create a beautiful evergreen wreath for the holidays, using the bounty of the fields and forests of the Berkshires. Learn about the natural history of common and not-so-common plants that can be used to create interesting holiday decorations. Consider a wide selection of plant material including: evergreen boughs, berries, seedpods, fern fronds and moss. Construct and take home a simple evergreen wreath. Take it home and the knowledge to create wreaths for holidays to come. Elisabeth Cary is the Director of Education at the Berkshire Botanical Garden and has been collecting plant materials from the wild and creating wreaths for over fifteen years. The cost of this workshop is $40 for BBG members, $45 for non members, and the materials are included in the cost of the class.  Bring pruners and gloves.  To register, or for more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.
    http://www.anthonyschristmastrees.com/images/lg_traditional_22.jpg

  • Saturday, November 21, 1:00 pm – Myxomycetes! The Enigma of Slime Molds

    In this illustrated talk, David Rose, past president of the Connecticut-Westchester Mycological Association (COMA), will explore the natural history of myxomycetes, commonly known as “slime molds.” Slime molds are colorful harmless organisms that inhabit damp woodland environments. So perplexing to science that they have been classified variously as animals, plants, and fungi (they are actually protists), these organisms are remarkable for their delicate beauty and their surprising transformation from an animal-like to a plant-like stage. Though they are not mushrooms, slime molds reproduce by spores and have traditionally been studied by mycologists for their resemblance to the fungi.  The program will be held Saturday, November 21 beginning at 1:00 pm at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, Connecticut, and is free and open to the public.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Slime_Mold_Olympic_National_Park_North_Fork_Sol_Duc.jpg

  • Saturday, September 19 – Stewardship Saturday on Lovells Island

    Join the Boston Harbor Islands staff on Saturday, September 19 for some hands-on learning as they remove invasive plants from important natural and historic areas of the Park.  Explore the local flora and fauna and discuss the ecology and natural history of the Park as you work side by side with expert staff to improve habitat for the native birds, bugs and flowers of our local National Park. For this journey to Lovells Island you will search for possible Swallow Wort and Japanese Knotweed.  You will also cut back some multiflora roses bushes that have grown on the outlying areas of a recently planted forest.  For more information, and for time and place of departure, call 617-223-8666 during business hours – you will get a call back.  Their web site is in a redesign process so email contact is currently down.

    http://www.accultured.com/images/bhi/bhi-Thumbnails/10.jpg

  • Saturday, August 29, 1:30 – 3:30 pm – Oh Nuts!

    Spend an afternoon at the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain with Michael Dosmann, curator of living collections, as he discusses the natural history of many of the Arboretum’s notorious nut species.  Mr. Dosmann was a popular speaker at a Garden Club of the Back Bay meeting a few seasons ago, and you will enjoy this walking tour with him.  Dress comfortably with good walking shoes.

    Free, but advance registration is requested.  Log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.