Botany - Bitesize!

At a time when so many plants are fast disappearing from our world, being aware of our native plants, what they look like and where they grow, has never been more important. Most of us tend to take the plants in our environment for granted. We suffer from what is known as ‘plant blindness’. This is when we do not actually register the plants around us; even when we are out walking in nature, they tend to blend together into the background.

During these difficult times, most opportunities to take a nature walk with a guide who can help identify plants for us are not available. To help, Trinity botanists have put together a series of videos called ‘5 in Five’ – 5 plants in five minutes! Each video describes 5 native plants from the natural habitats around us.

So why not get to know them this week? Watch each ‘5 in Five’ video using the links, then take a friend or your family and go and explore your town or countryside or whichever habitat is nearest to you, and see how many of these plants you can recognise. Maybe you will be seeing them for the first time, but you won’t forget them again! It may be a little more challenging at this time of the year, but a lot of these plants are still flowering have very recognisable characteristics which you will learn about.

Don’t forget to take pictures!

We would love to hear how you get on, so please share your photos with us on Twitter @TCBotanicGarden.

• Trinity Botanic Garden Find out more about the Trinity Botanic Garden here!
• START 2020 Browse the rest of Trinity’s European Researchers’ Night programme here!