Friday 28 November 2014

Clive Stace talks about Hybrids at AEM 2014

Clive in the Herbarium at Leicester
Image: L. Marsh
Clive Stace's new book The Hybrid Flora of the British Isles is due for publication next spring and at last weekend's BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting, it was standing room only at the back of the lecture theatre as Clive offered a preview of what we can expect. 

Stace specimen reproduced in the New Flora
Image: K. Widdowson
Some of the AEM guests had just hot-footed it back from the the last of our herbarium tours, where one of the treats on offer was a chance to see some of Clive's herbarium sheets stored in LTR (the code for the Herbarium at the University of Leicester). 

The image above shows Clive, on a recent visit to the Herbarium, looking at a specimen he collected himself in June 1953, when he was just 14. 

He told me "I remember the day, I remember the plant, and I remember the friend who was with me". Every herbarium sheet tells a story

Kevin W. joined one of the AEM herbarium tours and then shared the image (on left) and this post on Facebook :

Kevin says "The picture shows one of the many specimen records collected by Clive Stace and its reproduction in New Flora. A real privilege to see some of the primary research that went into producing such a key botanical text".   

If you didn't make it to the AEM and are now kicking yourself for missing out - you're in luck! You can now download a pdf of Clive's talk 'Hybrids 40 years on: the Hybrid Flora of the British Isles' if you head over here to our AEM webpage. 

If you were there at the AEM - well, you'll probably agree that Clive's asides and responses to questions from the floor were what made his presentation so memorable. For such an eminent botanist, he's very warm and approachable, even taking the time to sign a copy of his New Flora of the British Isles for one first-time exhibitor, who posted the image on the right and tweeted: 


Sheet of Stace, Book of Stace, Sign of Stace, brilliant event thank you!

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