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BOTANY NEWS

Botanical Information

Welcome to this fourteenth edition of Botany News!

TOPICS:

1. A note from the editor

2. Plants grown in northern gardens: Rowan

3. A special announcement to Icelandic readers

4. Mountain beauties

5. The flower box Visit our website: Eco-Logy.com

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A note from the editor

Joyful Autumn! Welcome again to Botany News and a special welcome to new subscribers. Autumn is here again, while warmer than usual and bringing still and clear autumn weather to Reykjavik. Special thanks to those of you who participated in the Survey. New surveys are underway to check interest in our Botanical Day Tours. Thanks to persons showing interest in topics ranging from ethnobotany, natural products, environmental protection, etc. Enjoy reading Botany News!

Plants grown in northern gardens: Rowan

Many species of rowans are native to the Northern Hemisphere. One species called Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) is the native Rowan in Iceland. Rowan is often found in Icelandic birch forests, sometimes growing tall above the birch shrubs. The bright red berries and yellowish and pale-green autumn coloured and feather-shaped leaves are a joy to people visiting Reykjavik’s botanical and residential gardens. Rowan is among the most popular cultivated species of trees in gardens in Reykjavik, as well as subarctic Akureyri and smaller towns across the country. Among other Rowan species that can be cultivated in Iceland and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere are Showy Mountain-Ash (Sorbus decora), Finnish Whitebeam (Sorbus hybrida) and Swedish Whitebeam (Sorbus intermedia).

Mountain beauties

There are many types of mountains in Iceland and the best known ones are probably glaciers and volcanoes. Walking upwards in the hills and mountains you find the vegetation becomes more similar to the vegetation growing in North Iceland. These are often hardy plants in many cases growing in tufts or small or large rosettes. Among the "mountain beauties" are Glacier Crowfoot (Beckwithia glacialis) restricted to high elevation and common in northern and eastern Iceland, often growing amazingly on rough soils and in rock crevices. This plant grows high in the West fjord and East fjord mountains and mountain ridges. This plant has bell-shaped dangling white to reddish flowers and shiny green leaves and is a joy to climbers and hikers in the mountains. The grass species Alpine Bluegrass (Poa alpina) is found all over Iceland but is one of the survivors in the high mountains. It produces seeds that begin germination attached to the mother plant in a form of asexual reproduction.

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A special announcement to Icelandic readers – Tilkynning til lesenda Gróðurfrétta!

Sendið okkur bréf og greinar um gróður og garðrækt til birtingar í næsta hefti Gróðurfrétta (Botany News), þið getið líka skoðað fyrri hefti á netinu. Eigið þið góðar myndir og minningar fá sumrinu? Mögulegt er að hafa tengla á ykkar vefsíður í fréttabréfinu. Tenglasíðan hjá Eco-Logy.com býður upp á tenglaskipti við aðila með svipuð áhugamál. Miðlið af ykkar eigin fróðleik til annars áhugafólks um málefni eins og plöntur, gróður, ræktun, náttúru landsins og útivist. Sendið okkur tilkynningar og greinar um fjölbreytt málefni eins og gróðurvernd, náttúruskoðun, trjárækt, garðyrkju, blómaljósmyndun og umhverfislist. Fyrir þá sem hafa áhuga á hollum náttúruafurðum má kíkja á sölusíðu Þundar! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The flower box

Botany News welcomes letters and links from persons working on all areas of botany and ecology. Botany News welcomes input from persons working for the environment, biodiversity and conservation around the world. Please, feel free to suggest new links to interesting botanical web pages for the next Flower Box section. There are some who choose to visit Iceland in the autumn enjoying the colours of birch trees, willows and rowans! Follow our web updates, including updates on Botanical Daytours in Iceland. You can send in your own Botany News item. Short essays on botany, biology and conservation are especially popular. Or send us a review on recent developments in your area of interest and upcoming botanical events. The articles/announcements need be no longer than 300-500 words. Reader comment can be shorter. Articles that do not fit the profile or purpose of Botany News are not published. Your article is still yours and you keep the full copyright. Send us your stories from the summer or contact us for exchanging links. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Best wishes,

Soffia Arnthorsdottir

BOTANY NEWS is published by Thund, Reykjavik, Iceland

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September 16, 2010 -- Botany News, Issue #014