Lecture 18th January

Dr Markus Ruhsam: Conservation of wild apple (Malus sylvestris) and assessment of the threat hybridisation poses to the British bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta).

18:00 in the RBGE Lecture Theatre, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR*

Hybridisation can be an important creative evolutionary force but might also lead to genetic swamping of one species by the other or even to the extinction of one or even both parental species. The threat of extinction or genetic swamping is often perceived even more acutely if hybridisation happens between native and introduced plant taxa. In this talk I will look at the evidence whether hybridisation between native and non-native bluebells (Hyacinthoides spp.) as well as wild and domesticated apple (Malus spp.) is likely to pose a threat to the UK native species.

Markus Ruhsam did his PhD on hybridisation between selfing and outcrossing species of Geum at the University of Edinburgh and is now a botanist at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He uses genetic tools often in combination with morphological techniques to study and understand plant diversity in the UK and further afield. This is a powerful approach to investigate evolutionary processes which, for instance, has led to the discovery of a new species of monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria) in New Caledonia. Current research topics include hybridisation, phylogeography as well as the resolution of taxonomic relationships in gymnosperms.

*Enter via the Science Buildings main reception, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR. Note this is NOT the public entrance to the gardens. Doors will open as usual at 17:30 for tea before the lecture. All welcome and entrance is free.