The Oxford University Botanical gardens is different from other such gardens.  Most of the botanical gardens located throughout the world are simply collections of plants that are on display, but mainly for reasons of specific purposes, rather than design.  However much attention is paid to the arrangement of the plants at Oxford, with the intention of creating exciting and visually attractive ways.  Many of those interested in gardening, and accomplished gardeners in the own right, often visit the garden in seek of ideas and inspirations.

Every plant and flower in the garden is clearly labeled as many people visit the garden in search of plants for their own homes or business, such as an Oxford hotel looking for new ways to brighten up the grounds of the hotel.  Many educational programs are offered at the garden, as well as those seminars that take place off site, for University botanists and researchers.  They are also involved in many conservation and environmental programs.

The garden houses one of the largest collections of reference material in the country of Britain, which consists of more than seven thousand different species of plant life.  The collection is very compact, however it is one of the most diverse of collections in the entire world.  The diversity in the Oxford Garden is greater than that found in rain forests of other countries, as well as greater than the natural reserve sites.  There are three distinct sections to the garden.

The green house contains many of the plants that are not fit for the extreme temperature differences in the country.  The Walled Garden surrounding the glass house has various features such as an intricately designed garden of rocks as well as a garden in the water.  Inside the walled garden there are a number of separated gardens based on the countries in which the species are indigenous to, their specific botanical groups, and the economic and herbal use for each plant.  This is one of the most diverse and beautiful of the gardens of the world.

The Botanical Garden at the University of Oxford is a post from: Sexy Savanah

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I was alarmed about the number of Shisham trees dying in India. I read a survey by the Forest Research Institute (FRI) which sites that the mortality of Shisham trees, also known as the ‘money’ tree in the timber business vernacular, has caused a loss of well over 1,000 crore in the Indian sub-continent. When I arrived and checked into the Palace Hotel India, my first call was to the Forest Pathology Division and make arrangements to help out as an environmentalist and scientist.

Nearly 8 to 10 lakh trees have wilted causing a huge loss in the nation. The FRI have set up multi-location trials through a series of root-dip methods. The trials, they tell me, are trying to bring back the resistance in the Shisham trees. These trees are the biggest provider of timber for making furniture and for building materials in India. So, the whole timber industry is helping out financially with these trials.

It appears that as soil-born fungus called Fusarium Solani is the root cause of the disease plagued Shisham. This fungus inflicts upon the trunks of the trees and causes them to be unable to recoup. A telltale sign that the fungus has stuck a tree is that the leaves turn pale and within a week, maybe two, the tree dies. The fungus works that fast. The staff at FRI showed me satellite pictures which show a brown haze over Delhi and extends the entire stretch of the lower Himalaya and up to West Bengal on to Bangladesh and other Southern Asian countries. They tell me that they believe it’s due to this phenomenon along side the drought which has aided to the stress of the trees not being able to fight off the fungus.

The Shisham is a most important timber in India, so we are taking steps to save it from further decay. I don’t know if there’s anything more to be done than what is already being done, but I’m not the only environmentalist working diligently on this task.

Shisham of India is a post from: Sexy Savanah

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