The second year Biology HL students visited the University of Oxford Botanic Garden on Friday as part of their Plant Science topic. On a blustery autumnal afternoon, the students were soon distracted from the welcoming warmth of the glasshouses by the sheer diversity and quality of plants on display; the garden is a national reference of over 8000 different types of plant making it the most compact yet diverse collection of plants in the world (this is even more diversity than that found in some tropical rainforests).
Particular favourites included the Insectivourous House, the Arid House (especially on a day like today) and the medicinal plant collections; it was great to see the students gaining a greater appreciation of plants not just for aesthetic reasons but also for their value in saving lives and driving economies.
