Jade Dragon: The story of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in China

Professor Stephen Blackmore, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Press release issued: 26 September 2011

A lecture organised by the University of Bristol’s Botanic Garden later this week [Thursday 29 September] will highlight a project to protect the rare plants of China’s Yunnan province.

A lecture organised by the University of Bristol’s Botanic Garden later this week [Thursday 29 September] will highlight this important collaboration.

Professor Stephen Blackmore CBE FRSE, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), will give the 2011 Annals of Botany Lecture. Professor Blackmore will talk about the conservation work that RBGE is doing in China, through the Jade Dragon Field Station near Lijiang.

The project’s aim is to work on the conservation of habitats, plants and other organisms, which live and depend upon the biodiversity hotspot of the Yulong Xue Shan (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain) in China’s Yunnan province.

The Yunnan region, in the far southwest of China, is one of the most important places in the world for unique plants but its richness is threatened by climate change and development.

In 1995 it was named a centre for plant diversity. Over 15,000 species of high altitude plants grow on its mountains and 2,500 grow only in this region.

Tickets priced at friends £6, non-members £8.50, include refreshments. Please send an SAE and cheque payable to ‘University of Bristol’ in an envelope marked ‘Annals of Botany Lecture’ to the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, Hollybush Lane, Stoke Bishop, Bristol BS9 1JB or tickets will be available on the door.

Further information is available from the Botanic Garden, tel 0117 331 4906 or email botanic-gardens@bristol.ac.uk

The 2011 Annals of Botany Lecture Jade Dragon: The story of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in China organised by the University of Bristol’s Botanic Garden will take place on Thursday 29 September at 7.30 pm in the University of Bristol’s Wills Hall Conference Centre, Parry’s Lane, Stoke Bishop, Bristol BS9 1AE. Parking will be available on Stoke Park Road with access to the Wills Hall Conference Centre through the Botanic Garden.

Further information

The University of Bristol Botanic Garden at The Holmes is open to the public during October on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays from 10 am to 4.30 pm. From November 2011 to March 2012 the Garden will be open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am until 4 pm, or dusk if earlier. Admission to the Garden is £3.50 adults; £1 children under-16 free. Entrance to the Garden is free to members of the Friends of the Botanic Garden Association and University of Bristol staff and students. Disabled access and toilet facilities available.

Directions to The Holmes

From the city centre go to the top of Whiteladies Road, at the junction and traffic lights go straight ahead across Durdham Down towards Stoke Bishop. At the traffic lights go straight ahead and take the first turning on the right into Stoke Park Road, The Holmes is 150 m on the right.

Members of the public wishing to support the work of the Botanic Garden should join the Friends of the Garden. For more information go to www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/BotanicGardens/friends/who.htm or write to Susan Redfern, The Membership Secretary, 24 Dublin Crescent, Henleaze, Bristol BS9 4NA.

Please contact joanne.fryer@bristol.ac.uk for further information.