The Music of Flowers

Here's a nice preview of this week's episode of How to Grow a Planet. Watch and see how a species of plant and a species of bee have evolved a partnership based on the sound of a wing beat. The series continues this Tuesday, 9pm, BBC2.

Darwin Day Special: Darwin's 'Lost' Fossils

During the Summer of 2011, Howard Falcon-Lang was rummaging around in the windowless vaults of the British Geological Survey when he opened a drawer labelled simply "unregistered fossil plants".

What he found inside was a 'treasure trove' of fossils including some collected by Charles Darwin - who's birth we celebrate this weekend as Darwin Day!

“While searching through an old cabinet, I spotted some drawers marked ‘unregistered fossil plants’. I can’t resist a mystery, so I pulled one open. What I found inside made my jaw drop!” said Falcon-Lang.

“Inside the drawer were hundreds of beautiful glass slides made by polishing fossil plants into thin translucent sheets. This process allows them to be studied under the microscope. Almost the first slide I picked up was labeled ‘C. Darwin Esq.’ This turned out to be a piece of fossil wood collected by Darwin during his famous Voyage of the Beagle in 1834!”

The collection was put together by Darwin's good friend Joseph Hooker while he was employed by the Survey for a short time in 1846.

"The purpose of my visit was to locate some specimens of Carboniferous fossil wood from the Bristol Coalfield", wrote Falcon-Lang in Geology Today. "A rummage quickly turned up the sought after fossils but as we were preparing to leave, my eyes fell on a series of drawers marked ‘unregistered fossil plants’. I can’t resist a mystery, so I pulled one open".

Joseph Hooker

Joseph Hooker (1817-1911) was one of the great botanists of his time and director of Kew Gardens for many years. The slide-mounted samples of fossilised plants in the newly re-discovered collection have the names of donors inscribed on the slides. At least two of the sections of fossil wood were obtained by Darwin during his famous voyage on the Beagle, from 1831 to 1836.

One of the samples (pictured above) comes from Chiloe Island, Chile a place Darwin visited in December 1834 and described it thus: "Chiloe, from its climate is a miserable hole".

There are many specimens from the collection which were not collected by Darwin although understandably given Darwin's fame his samples have stolen a lot of the attention. Other samples are associated with William Nicol, the pioneer of petrography (the detailed study of rocks).

Falcon-Long suggests that the collection probably got lost in the British Geological Survey's storage facility at Keyworth, near Nottingham, UK as a result of bad timing. The Survey didn't start formally registering its acquisitions until 1848. Since then, the samples seem to have been moved around London to various Museums, which at various times held geological collections. It probably arrived in Keyworth in the mid-eighties. Here, a process of cataloguing and photographing is currently ongoing so more fascinating discoveries may yet be waiting around the corner.

You can view a selection from the collection at the British Geological Survey's online museum.

How to Grow a Planet

This week sees the start of what promises to be another great series of science programmes from the BBC with How to Grow a Planet.

The three part series, presented by Prof. Iain Stewart, aims to reveal how the greatest changes to the Earth have been driven, above all, by plants.

Stewart is a geologist and professor of Geoscience Communication at Plymouth University so expect to see the links between ancient plants and geology feature highly in this series.

“I had always thought of plants as being rather boring – less dramatic than the earthquakes and volcanoes I had been studying. But when you realise what plants do at the planet scale, and when you discover just how fundamental they are to life on Earth, they take your breath away", said Stewart.

In the first episode, to be aired on Tuesday 7th February at 9pm on BBC2, Stewart examines how plants first harnessed light energy to create our life-giving atmosphere. He looks at the epic batle between dinosaurs and poisonous plants and promises to use remarkable imagery to show plants 'breathing' and communicating with each other for the first time.

Also in episode one, Stewart will be sealed inside an air-tight chamber at the Eden Project in Cornwall in an attempt to demonstrate the oxygenating properties of the plants sealed in the chamber alongside him.

Stewart added: “I think it was being stuck in a transparent air-tight container for 48 hours with 274 of them that really made me appreciate plants. Locked in there, with half the oxygen removed, I suddenly realised how much I needed plants to keep me alive. It is a hell of a way to highlight something we so take for granted: photosynthesis!”

Here's a sneak preview of episode one:

World’s first night flowering orchid discovered on the island of New Britain

B. nocturnum (Image: J. Vermeulen)

Botanists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis have described the first night-flowering orchid known to science. The discovery is published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

The new night flowering species, Bulbophyllum nocturnum, from the island of New Britain near Papua New Guinea, is the first known example of an orchid species with flowers that consistently open after dark and close in the morning. Its flowers last one night only.

A relatively small number of plant species have flowers that open at night and close during the day. Until now, no orchids were known among them. This in spite of the fact that many orchids are pollinated by moths. But these moth-pollinated orchids all have flowers that remain open during the day, even if they are mainly pollinated after dark.

Bulbophyllum nocturnum was discovered by Dutch orchid specialist Ed de Vogel on a field trip to the island of New Britain, where he was allowed to collect some orchids in a logging area for cultivation at the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Under the care of garden manager Art Vogel one of these plant soon produced buds. Their opening was eagerly anticipated as de Vogel and his colleagues had already established that this plant was a member of the Epicrianthes group of orchids of the genus Bulbophyllum. Epicrianthes contains many rare and bizarre species, most of which have only been discovered recently as they occur in some of the remotest jungle habitats on earth.

Frustratingly, however, the buds all withered once they had seemingly reached the size at which they should open. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, de Vogel took the plant home with him one evening in order to find out exactly what happened to the buds.

B. nocturnum (Image: A. Schuiteman)

To his surprise, the bud that was then present opened up at ten in the evening, long after dark, revealing the flower of an undescribed species.

Observations on subsequent buds confirmed that they all opened around 10pm, and closed the next morning around 10am. The flowers lasted only one night, which explained why the buds were seemingly about to open one day and withered the next.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew orchid specialist, André Schuiteman, and Leiden Bulbophyllum expert, Jaap Vermeulen, teamed up with de Vogel to investigate and describe this remarkable new species.

Says André Schuiteman of the discovery, “This is another reminder that surprising discoveries can still be made. But it is a race against time to find species like this that only occur in primeval tropical forests. As we all know, such forests are disappearing fast. It is therefore increasingly important to obtain funding for the fieldwork required to make such discoveries.”

Why Bulbophyllum nocturnum has adopted a night flowering habit is unknown and requires further investigation. However, it may be speculated that its pollinators are midges that forage at night.

In February 2012 Kew’s Tropical Extravaganza festival (4 February – 4 March 2012) will celebrate the beauty and diversity of orchids. Orchids make up what is probably the largest plant family on earth, with an estimated 25,000 species. Their flowers show a tremendous range of variation in size, colour and shape.

"Plant Science has never been more important"

The work of Plant Scientists is crucial to our long-term survival, according to a hard-hitting letter by an international group of botanists and crop scientists published this week.

After an online consultation, the authors have drawn up a list of 100 important questions that urgently need to be addressed by the next generation of plant biologists.

"Plant science has never been more important" the authors state. Global challenges including the production of abundant safe and nutritious food, shelter, clothes, fibre and renewable energy can only be met, according to the authors, "in the context of a strong fundamental understanding of plant biology and ecology, and translation of this knowledge into field-based solutions".

In order to see what questions plant scientists should be considering, the authors compiled a list of 100 important questions facing plant science research.

The top-ten questions are:

• How do we feed our children's children?

• Which crops must be grown and which sacrificed, to feed the billions?

• How can we deliver higher yields but at the same time reduce environmental impact of agriculture?

• What are the best ways to control invasive species of plants, pests and pathogens?

• Should GM crops require special regulation?

• How can plants curb global warming?

• How do plants contribute to maintaining human life on earth?

• What will be the new scientific approaches central to plant biology in the coming century?

• How do we ensure that society appreciates the importance of plants and how can we attract the "best and brightest" into plant science?

• How do we make sure sound science informs policy decisions?

"Plant science is central to addressing many of the most important questions facing humanity", the authors conclude. The importance of plants also extends well beyond agriculture and horticulture as we "face declining  solid fuel reserves, climate change, and a need for more sustainable methods to produce fuel, fibre, wood and industrial feedstocks".

The authors note that training new plant scientists is essential given the central role they will play in the future:
"As plant science becomes increasingly important, we need to attract the brightest and best to careers in plant research. School education does not include the most interesting or relevant aspects of plant science, and discourages young people from studying the subject at university. This is indefensible in a world with such a strong requirement for outstanding plant scientists, and steps should be taken to put it right".

The authors are clear on the importance of plant science research and future plant scientists:
“Everyone knows that we need doctors, and the idea that our best and brightest should go into medicine is embedded in our culture.  However, even more important than medical care is the ability to survive from day to day; this requires food, shelter, clothes, and energy, all of which depend on plants.

“Plant scientists are tackling many of the most important challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century, including climate change, food security, and fossil fuel replacement.  Making the best possible progress will require exceptional people.  We need to radically change our culture so that ‘plant scientist’ (or, if we can rehabilitate the term, ‘botanist’) can join ‘doctor’, ‘vet’ and ‘lawyer’ in the list of top professions to which our most capable young people aspire.”

You can read the letter, published in the New Phytologist here.

Potato Genome Sequenced

The potato genome has just been published in the journal Nature.

The Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium (PGSC), an international team of scientists including some from Teagasc in Ireland, has published the "genetic blueprint" for the world's third most important food crop.

Scientists say the information will help plant scientists and breeders to improve yield, quality, nutritional value and disease resistance pf potato varieties. The PGSC say it should also allow potato breeders "reduce the 10-12 years currently needed to breed new varieties".

The potato genome is the first sequence of an Asterid to be published - a group of flowering plants encompassing around 25% of all known plant species.

The consortium published a draft sequence in 2009 after a meeting of the consortium in Oakpark, Carlow in Ireland to plan the final phases of the project. The most recent publication is a refined version covering approximately 95% of all the genes in the potato - around 39,000 genes that code for proteins.

Worldwide, it's estimated that a loss of about €3 billion per year in the potato crop arises from diseases such as late blight and potato cyst nematodes. These problems are still largely controlled by frequent applications of fungicides and nematicides.

An indepth knowledge of the genetics of the potato should allow scientists to develop new varieties which show high levels of resistance against these pests and diseases.

The potato genome has 12 chromosomes and an extimate 840 million base pairs.

Speaking on the release of the first draft, Professor Jimmy Burke, head of Teagasc Crops Research Centre and leader of the plant biotechnology programme said: “Research such as this is incredibly important to the future competitiveness of Irish agriculture and puts Teagasc at the forefront of exciting developments in science”.

Combining our expertise in plant breeding with cutting-edge biotechnology-based research is enhancing our ability to develop plant varieties suitable for Irish conditions and agricultural practices. We are pursuing similar projects in other species important to agriculture here in Ireland, including perennial ryegrass, white clover and wheat, and energy crops, and we expect similar successes in these species in the future”.


The Nature paper is available here.
The full sequence is available here.

The Potato and Walter Raleigh: Never let the facts spoil a good story

I've got a particular interest in potatoes. Lots of my research is based on dealing with potato pests, so I've got an affection for the tuber.

That's why I was so excited to see a new website, potato.ie launched to promote the Irish potato as 'Ireland's Feel-Good Food'. Take a look, it's full of recipe ideas, fun facts and information about Solanum tuberosum.

If I've got one complaint, it is that the website highlights the supposed connection between Sir Walter Raleigh and the potato. A connection which is just not supported by the facts.

Under the the 'History' section of the website, they note that "popular myth credits its introduction at Youghal, Co. Cork by Sir Walter Raleigh. Other anecdotal evidence suggest that the potato was washed up on the shores of Cork after the wreck of the Spanish Armada in the area".

To be fair to the Irish Potato Federation, they make it clear that they consider the Raleigh story an urban (or should that be rural?) myth and so it is.

The potato originated in South America and what is at question here is how it got to Europe and, in particular, how it got to Ireland and the UK.

The Walter Raleigh myth is a really nice story and in many ways, I'd really like it to be true, but academics and historians are pretty sure that it's not. The story 'dies hard' though due to is widespread publicity and legendary status.

The most likely theory for the introduction of potato to Ireland and Britain is that it arrived from Spain. The author William Coles wrote in London in 1657 about “the potatoes which we call Spanish because they were first brought up to us out of Spain, grew originally in the Indies…”

Even as far back as 1727, there was clearly a view that the potato came from Spain (and indeed there was people willing to reject that argument). The Anglo-Irish botanist Caleb Threlkeld wrote pompously:

“Those who would give to the Spaniards the honour of entrencing (sic) this useful root called the potato, give me leave to call designing parricides, who stirred up the mislead zeal of the people of this kingdom to cast off the English government which is the greatest mercy they ever enjoyed… To ascribe the honour of the English industry to the effeminate Spaniards cannot be passed over without remark… and if I might advise the inhabitants, they should every meal they eat of this root be thankful to the Creator for English navigation.”

"every meal they eat of this root be thankful to the Creator for English navigation"What a wonderful rant! But perhaps he protests too strongly? It's useful to note that nowhere does Threlkeld mention Raleigh to back up his assertions. Surely if the Raleigh myth was in play back in 1727, the author would have played it as his trump card? This suggests that Raleigh's name was introduced at a later date to support this argument.

The Spanish theory is also supported by Irish oral tradition.Seán O Neachtain wrote the poem Cáth Bearna Chroise Brighde (The Battle of the Gap of St. Bridget’s Cross) in 1750 and this clearly supports the Spanish theory.

The poem is a very lengthy account of a fictional battle, which takes place near Tallaght in Co. Dublin (the poem extends to 218 short verses).

In it, O'Neachtain refers to the potato as "An Spaineach Geal" - the kind-hearted Spaniard and refers to its supporters as "the friends of the Spaniards". At the beginning of the poem, the poet mourns the loss of "my dear Spaniard" saying his death will be "death for the gaels, woe to them all".

Clearly then there were cultural references to the Spanish Introduction in 18th Century Ireland. When exactly Raleigh's name became involved in the story is unclear. Brewer (1826) certainly links Raleigh to the introduction and says it happened in 1588 when Raleigh was Mayor of Youghal.

Whatever the truth, the Raleigh myth is an endearing one and there is little doubt that the southwest of Ireland is a location were potato cultivation was understood and practiced at an early stage, perhaps because of the mild climate. It is possible that Raleigh was used as a figurehead for those wanting to give the vegetable a more 'appropriate' or British image in light of its connections to Spain.

As a piece of fiction, the Raleigh myth is a great one, but we shouldn't confuse fact with fiction, even if it does spoil a good story.

Mutiny on the Bounty: A Botanical Experiment

The HMS Bounty visited Cork recently as part of a European Tour. The ship is a replica of the original Bounty and was constructed in 1960 for the MGM studios film Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando.

Update: On 29th October 2012, the Bounty sank off the North Carolina coast during Hurricane Sandy. News item.

The original Bounty was purchased by the British Admiralty as part of unique botanical experiment- to sail to Tahiti in 1787 and collect samples of breadfruit trees (Artocarpus altilis) and transport them to the West Indies where they could be transplanted and used in the British plantations as a cheap source of food for slaves.

William Bligh was chosen to captain the ship and Sir Joseph Banks of Kew sent one David Nelson to be the botanist on board the ship.

When they got to Tahiti, the crew collected 1,015 breadfruit plants and Bligh allowed some of the crew to remain on land for five months caring for the plants. This was a decision he would live to regret. Without the rigour of life onboard, some of the crew resented having to fall back under Bligh's command for the return journey.

Three weeks out of Tahiti, Fletcher Christian led a mutiny aboard the Bounty. Eighteen of the 44 men on board were set adrift along with the captain in the Bounty's launch. This included the botanist Nelson and his plants, which he had carefully tended, were also thrown overboard. The mutineers had apparently resented the fresh water rations being used to keep the plants alive.

The remaining mutineers took control of the ship and eventually settled on Pitcairn Island and burnt the ship in what is now Bounty Bay.

Bligh captained the small boat, without charts, the 3,600 nautical miles to safety at the Dutch port of Coupang in what is now Indonesia.

A few days after arriving, having survived the epic voyage, Nelson spent a day botanising in the mountains, caught a cold, and died.

Bligh noted in his log:
'The loss of this honest man I much lamented; he had with great care and diligence attended to the object for which he was sent. I was sorry I could get no tombstone to place over his remains.'

What started as a botanical experiment ended as one of the most famous ocean journeys ever recorded.


The Bounty has now left Cork and will reach Belfast in a few days to continue its European tour.

Botany - A Blooming History

This Tuesday sees a new season of programmes tracing the history of botany kick off on BBC 4.

The centerpiece of the season is a three-part series: Botany- A Blooming History.

Presented by Timothy Walker, director of Oxford University Botanic Gardens, the series will reveal how a band of pioneers came to understand the mysteries of the plant kingdom and in doing so, helped to unlock the secrets of the natural world.

A Blooming History, will tell the story of how we came to understand the natural order of the plant world and how the quest to discover how plants grow uncovered the secret to life on the planet.

The series features the latest plant science and hows how botanists today are at the forefront of advances to fight disease, provide radical new forms of renewable energy and help feed the world's growing population.

During a journey which will take in the likes of Carl Linnaeus, who laid the groundwork for how we name all living creatures; Thomas Fairchild, the nurseryman who produced the first man-made hybrid and William Bateson, the botanist who coined the term 'genetics', Timothy Walker will show how plants are the centre of modern science.

Along with the three-part series, there is a supporting cast of three one-off documentaries: Apples - British to the Core will look at how Britain has helped shape the apple; Wonderful Weeds aims to look at how some of what we call 'weeds' are more useful than we give them credit for; Hidcote will look at the most influential British garden of the 20th century.

Botany: A Blooming History starts on BBC4 on Tuesday June 7th at 9pm.

(Source: BBC Press Office)

Corpse flower blooms in Basel

The Swiss city of Basel witnessed a rare flowering of the corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum, over Easter.

The carrion flower is also known as the titan arum and and produces a scent which is not unlike that of a decomposing mammal. The scent is used to attract pollinating insects, in particular carrion flies and beetles, to the flower to transfer pollen. The flowers deep-red colouration also contributes to this carrion-like illusion.

The flower can reach over 3 metres in height but dies back quickly before it is replaced with a single large leaf. The underground corm (swollen plant stem) is the largest in the plant kingdom - around 50 kg.

Found growing in the wild in the rainforests of Indonesia, it is cultivated in many botanical collections around the world but it is notoriously difficult to get to flower.

Interestingly, the popular name titan arum was invented by David Attenborough when he famously filmed the plant for his 'The Private Life of Plants' BBC series. Apparently, he felt that continually referring to the plant by its Latin name on TV would be inappropriate. See video at the end of this post.

The Swiss flower was visited by more than 10,000 people on Saturday alone, each adult paying 10 Swiss Francs for a quick two-minute viewing. All the money raised was going towards funding events at the botanical garden.

Custodian of the Basel Botanical Gardens Heinz Schneider told Swiss TV, "It's crazy! Plant fans from all over Switzerland want to see the titan arum."

By Monday, the flower had wilted but the event was captured on webcam, from which the following series of images were taken (31st March - 27th April).

David Attenborough visits the titan arum in the wild:

(Ignore the title of the video - titan arum is not the biggest flower in the world!)

Patrick O'Hara: An Ecological Artist

'The Star Lily and the Iris' by P. O'Hara

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting a wonderful exhibition of botanical paintings and sculptures by the Cork-based artist Patrick O'Hara.

The exhibition is currently taking place in the Boole Library exhibition space at University College Cork and I enjoyed chatting to the artist about his work.

The exhibition predominantly features the artist's watercolours of Californian flora and fauna along with a selection of his impressive botanical sculptures.

O'Hara has travelled extensively from his home near Carrigaline, Co. Cork across Ireland, Britain, Europe, Africa, Arabia, Asia and America to study plants and butterflies in their natural habitats.

Speaking to O'Hara, his background in biology and botany in particular becomes clear and he has a keen interest in the science of the plants he seeks to capture in his art. He studied botany, zoology and geology at Reading University.

Each piece of sculpture and watercolour is the result of countless hours studying the organism in the natural environment and taking careful notes and sketches of the shape and colour of the plants. It is only when he returns to his studio that the work of painting or sculpting what has been recorded can begin. His delicate and scientifically accurate porcelain sculptures can take up to 3 months to produce and involves painting the pieces using the notes he made in the field to ensure that the correct shade is reproduced.

'A Proud Poppy of California' Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri) and Western Tiger Swallowtail. The artist writes: These huge and beautifully scented flowers belong to a family of plants first discovered in the Santa Ana mountains by Irish botanist Thomas Coulter during his travels around southern California between 1826 and 1836. The Latin name is tribute to him and his great friend, the Irish astronomer Romney Robinson.

What strikes me about O'Hara's work is not just the beauty and scientific accuracy, but also the decision to not present the plants in isolation but rather to present them as entire ecosystems where different plants, lichens, mosses, insects and butterflies interact. It is this detailed and realistic approach that makes O'Hara more an 'ecological artist' rather than a botancial artist.

Given the nature of Patrick O'Hara's work, it is fitting that it will shortly adorn the walls of Fota House in East Cork, the gardens and arboretum of which are a national botanical treasure. The artist is donating prints of each of his California wildflower watercolours to the Irish Heritage Trust who manage Fota House.

Patrick O'Hara's exhibition 'Secret Gardens of the World: The Wild Flowers of California' runs in the Boole Library, UCC until the 28th June 2011. For more information his work, you can visit www.ohara-art.com

'Three Friends in Winter' porcelain sculpture by P. O'Hara. Ginger, Liquorice & Ephedra

Ireland's Biodiversity Recorded

The National Biodiversity Data Centre has just published a document outlining the state of knowledge of Ireland's biodiversity in 2010.

This impressive report outlines the breathe of knowledge about Ireland's flora and fauna, while at the same time, highlighting where gaps in this knowledge occur.

The importance of such work cannot be over emphasised, given that services provided by Ireland's biodiversity are estimated to contribute at least €2.6 billion per year to the Irish economy. This figure is arrived at, given the importance of biodiversity in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism industries, as well as the significant contributions towards clean air, water and productive, healthy soils.

Figure 1 (Click on the image to see a larger version; NBDC)

As the report authors point out: "as the Irish economy seeks ways to revitalise itself, gaining a greater understanding of Ireland's biodiversity and protecting Ireland's natural capital should be one of the building blocks of that recovery".

Ireland has 11,422 species of insect; 8000 non-insect invertebrates; 5500 species of fungi and 2328 different species of plant (see figure 1).

Figure 2 (Click on the image to see a larger version; NBDC)

Despite this high level of knowledge about Ireland's rich biodiversity, the NBDC estimate that about 25% of the country's species are yet to be recorded. Significantly, they estimate that up to 5,000 more species of Irish algae need to be recorded.

The report also indicates the threat of extinction of Irish species, with 23% of known species currently threatened, according to IUCN red list data (see figure 2).

You can read the report in full here.

National Tree Week 2011

National Tree Week is running this week (from March 6-12) and once again there are a range of activities to get involved in.

The week is organised by the Tree Council of Ireland and this year, the theme is Celebrating Forests. This is in keeping with the United Nations designating 2011 as International Year of Forests.

Talks, tree-plantings, walks and fun events are organised throughout the country and you can see a full list of events here.

In particular, the Tree Council are runing a National Tree Week Photo Competition for photos taken at Tree Week Events.

David Bellamy - Happy Birthday

Today is the birthday of British botanist, broadcaster and author David Bellamy who was born in 1933. Although he has some controversial views on the environment and global warming, as a science broadcaster he was ahead of his time.

A Gossip on Natural History*

I was delighted to browse through a copy of the first two volumes of the Irish Naturalist recently in UCC's Boole Library. In particular, I was drawn to the regular notices submitted by the Cork Naturalist's Field Club, which had been founded around the same time as the journal. In the first edition, an important message was given pride of place in the introduction:

"As we go to press, we recieve promise of support from the new Naturalist's Field Club at Cork, a notice of the establishment of which will be found on page 24. We heartily wish the Cork society a prosperous and useful career, and hope that other centres in the south and west of Ireland may soon follow the example of that city."

The Irish Naturalist was established in April 1892 by several Dublin-based naturalists as a medium through which those interested and studying nature in Ireland could publish notes and longer articles about Irish natural history.

'the fact that no journal of the kind exists in the country, is sufficient reason for our undertaking'In the first edition, the publishers noted that "the fact that no journal of the kind exists in the country, is sufficient reason for our undertaking". The journal was established upon a wave of both scientific and amateur interest in botany, zoology and geology around the end of the 19th century and the launch happened as a number of Field Clubs were being established around the country: Belfast (1863), Dublin (1886), Cork (1892) and Limerick (1892).

The Irish Naturalist was published for 33 years and is now an important resource for 'naturalists' who wish to study the history of particular species in Ireland and study the development of science in Ireland.

During the period 1900-1922, interest in natural history began to decline, not least because of prevailing political uncertainties and the journal ceased publication in December 1924 (Wyse Jackson and Wyse Jackson, 1992). Almost immediately afterward, the Irish Naturalists' Journal was launched in Belfast in 1925. This journal continues to publish to this day.

The submitted notice in that first edition informs us that the Cork Field Club was formed on March 18th of that year (1892) and that the President, Vice President and other officers were elected. The President was Prof. Marcus Hartog of Queen's College (now UCC) and one of the Vice Presidents was Mr. Denny Lane.

Marcus Hartog had become Professor of Natural History at Queen's College in 1882 (when he was 31 years old) and he held the post for 39 years. Born in London in 1851, he graduated from Cambridge with a first-class degree in Natural Science. He worked on fungi with the famous botanist Anton de Bary, the "Father of Plant Pathology" and inspired Sir Edwin Butler, who studied under him, to pursue a career in mycology rather than medicine (Cullinane, 1995).

Throughout the editions of the Irish Naturalist for the first year, we read a number of 'proceedings' from the Cork Naturalist's Field Club:

Crawford Municipal Buildings, Cork. Now Crawford Gallery

At a meeting of the club on the 22nd of April 1892, the secretary announced "Mr. J O'Sullivan's munificent gift of his herbarium of the Co. Cork flora, containing 7,000 specimens of plants, to the museum of the society". Such was the  number of specimens collected by the club that, later the same year, the proceedings note that "The secretary gave account of negotiations carried out.... with the object of obtaining for the club, space in the Crawford Municipal Building in which to form a museum".

At the same meeting (November 2nd), Prof. Hartog "gave his Inaugural Address, entitled the "Life of a Cell", dealing with the formation and gradual development of the cell in vegetable and animal tissues, illustrating by numerous diagrams, and by the manipulation of pieces of dough, the various shapes assumed, the manner of absorbing food, and the curious process of cell-division".

By the following meeting (Nov 16th) the secretary was pleased to announce that a "large corridor" was now available in the Crawford for museum purposes.

'the following rambles have been taken by members'An important part of all Field Clubs established around this time were the organisation of regular "rambles" whereby the members would depart for some scenic, part of the city or county and observe and collect specimens for further examination. The Cork field club was no different and many of the locales visited in the first year of the club's activity are still visited by scientists and amateur naturalists to this day.

At their meeting on the 6th of May 1892, the members recorded that, "the following rambles have been taken by members of the club: - April 18th to Blarney, conducted by Mr. J O'Sullivan. April 23rd to Goulding's Glen, conducted by Mr. WJ Knight".

However, as with all field work, things didn't always go to plan, as the proceedings of the Summer meetings record:

"The uncertain weather of the past weeks, combined with the fact of many members being on holidays, has had the effect of making the excursions very small, but several have been taken:
June 29th- the club visited Killeagh, for Glenbower Woods...[which] deserves to be better known.
July 9th- a wet morning deferred many, but a party of twelve visited the beautiful grounds of Fota (A.H. Smith-Barry, Esq.), where there is a splendid collection of pines and firs from all parts of the world, the characteristics of which were pointed out by Mr. Osborne, the Steward.

The Orangery at Fota Arboretum, Cork.

July 13th - to Kinsale and the Old Head, including the unrehearsed item of the wreck of the 'City of Chicago'.
July 23rd- to Mourne Abbey, where a small party, conducted by Mr. Sullivan, of Queens's College, had a most instructive botanical ramble.
August 1st- Bantry Bay was visited by some, and botanical and entomological specimens taken.
August 10th- A very pleasant afternoon was spent by some members at Currabinny Woods, Queenstown [now Cobh] harbour, the 'take' being principally entomological".

As these records show, the history of studying the Natural Sciences in Cork and Ireland generally is rich and varied. The Irish Naturalist  allows us to get some idea of what Cork naturalists (both academic and amateur) were up to during this time, when interest in the natural world had reached a peak.

Many of the locations visited by the club in their first year are still accessible for "rambles" and they are still areas where the natural world can be enjoyed and studied at leisure.

In the second edition of the Irish Naturalist, an author notes, while discussing a newly found plant species, that he was "botanizing along the banks of the river Main, Co. Antrim" when he made the discovery. I don't believe I've ever seen the word botany used as a verb before but it conveys the enthusiasm and joy which the writer clearly derived from the study of plants. I shall be using that word more often as I revive the lost art of the "ramble".

* The title of this piece "A Gossip..." comes from the proceedings outlined above, where it was common to see this phrase used as the title for lectures, e.g. A Gossip on the Ornithology of Co. Cork.
 
Sources:
Cullinane, J.P., (1995) 150 years. A history of the Chair of Botany and Zoology (Queen's College Cork - University College Cork). Unpublished report as typed manuscript.

Wyse Jackson, P., Wyse Jackson, P. (1992). The Irish Naturalist: 33 years of natural history in Ireland 1892-1924. Irish Naturalists' Journal 24(3): 95-101