Exhibitors
Lifelong Learning
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Sparsholt College
Plant self-similarity & its horticultural uses.
The Linnean Society of London
Linnaeus’ Legacy - 300 years of naming nature
The Linnean Society of London is celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of the great Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus. This exhibit is designed to explore Linnaeus’ legacy that led to the current system of scientific naming. Linnaeus promoted the binomial system in use today for all plant naming in his book Species Plantarum (1753) and said in his Philosophia Botanica (1751), “If you do not know the names of things, the knowledge of them is lost too”.
The exhibit, the focal point of which will be a new bust in bronze of the young Linnaeus examining a butterfly by the artist and zoologist Anthony Smith, involves four themes, expressed in the plants used for the display. Plants named for their characteristics develop the theme of communication. Plants named for their uses develop a theme of human health and the centrality of plants to medicine. Plants named for places explore the theme of exploration and conservation of biodiversity, and plants named for people focus on the future of naming nature.
A miniature U-shaped glaciated valley of wild flowers sweeps up to the bust and more wild flowers surround the plinth which supports the bust. Behind Linnaeus is his own favourite flower, named after him, Linnaea borealis, commonly known as twinflower. The valley is supported by two tiers of specimen plants, with explanatory labels, such as might be found in a botanic garden. The unifying theme of the exhibit will be the continuing legacy begun by Linnaeus - the naming of plants and their importance and relevance in today’s world.
The Linnaean Tercentenary is being commemorated internationally throughout 2007 and includes a comprehensive programme of exciting promotional events, scientific meetings, awards, exhibitions and projects featuring the digitisation of the Society’s Collections.
View the A Tribute to Linnaeus show garden
The Royal College of Pathologists
Pathology of Plant Sensitivity
The inspiration for this exhibit is the increase and interest in recent years in human food allergies and sensitivity reactions to plants and plant products.
Adverse reactions to foods affects between 3-6 percent of the British population. Foods that most often trigger reactions include wheat, soy, peanut and fruit, but every food has the potential to cause an adverse reaction.
Plants are a particularly interesting group because they can cause adverse reactions through a number of different biological mechanisms, and the knowledge of the botanical relationship between plants can help us to understand why people react to a number of foods of plant origin instead of just one. This exhibition will explain the pathology behind reactions to certain plant-derived foods and show examples of the links between certain plants that can result in unexpected symptoms. People will be encouraged to come onto the stand to look at the plants, to read the poster information and to look at the exhibits down the microscope.
The team behind the exhibit is a mix of pathologists, a builder, a medical illustrator and a nurseyman. They are all passionate about health and gardening and this exhibit provides them with a unique way to better inform the public about the role of doctors and scientists, their health and plants.
The Royal Horticultural Society
The RHS Advisory team are on hand to answer all your gardening questions.
The University of Reading
The Frozen Ark conserving disappearing ornamental plants
This display showcases storage of shoot tips at ultra-low temperature (cryopreservation) for the preservation of disappearing ornamental plant varieties. The displays focuses on collaborative work with the National Chrysanthemum Society which seeks to establish a secure collection of several hundred old varieties in danger of being lost.
Writtle College
How Green is my Garden?
This theme of this exhibit is a green audit of a garden, not only of its contents but also of how actions within the garden can have both a positive and negative impact upon the environment.
The exhibit is a small garden with a vegetable plot, wildlife area and an ornamental flower border; areas for recycling and tool storage are also featured. The exhibit is all about showing just what one person can do to make their garden ‘green’. It concentrates on issues such as recycling, water use, sustainable practices and ‘garden miles’, which determine how far the contents of the garden are physically transported and at what cost. The exhibit will educate gardeners about what they can do to improve their environmental credentials.