Getting to Know Conifers – MMU

Name: Getting to Know Conifers – MMU
Start: 2024-10-18T18:30:00+01:00
End: 2024-10-20T16:00:00+01:00
Location: FSC Preston Montford

Schedule

Fri Oct 18 2024 at 06:30 pm to Sun Oct 20 2024 at 04:00 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

FSC Preston Montford | Shrewsbury, EN

This weekend botanical tree course will equip you with the skills needed to confidently identify conifer trees; focusing on accuracy and diagnostic features.
You will get to grips with different keys to identification, beginning by considering the key features of the different families and genera of conifers, studying specimens of different cones and foliage, and practising looking for appropriate characters to confirm the species. All with the close support and guidance of our expert tutor. Winter, when most of our native plants have lost their leaves and there are few flowers, offers a wonderful opportunity to focus our attention on the conifers – most of which are evergreen and still bear cones.

What will be covered during this course?
The course will be delivered through a combination of seminars, laboratory identification sessions and practical field work.
Identifying a range of woody plant species in the field and in the lab.
Systematic approaches to identification using dichotomous keys.
The problems of challenging taxa such as Pinus, Picea, Abies and others.
How to record and deal with these groups individually and also as part of recording schemes.
Techniques for collecting voucher specimens for validation. Problems with bulky species. The importance of collecting vouchers for identification. Use of collector and determiners.
The use of referees and the validating system for difficult higher plant groups. The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland and their system of vice-county recorders and referees who can give a determination for species.
Awareness of published resources for identification; i.e. handbooks, cribs, general guides, online.

Different booking options are available. Please refer to our website for further information and to book.
https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/static-courses/getting-to-know-conifers-mmu/
#Trees #Botany #Ecology #Plants