Time: Tuesday 4 July 2023 at 7.30pm (BST)
Matija Strlic is chemist by profession, working in academia and researching cultural heritage. While none of this has much to do with pelargoniums, he has been studying the genus for the past 20 years. As a curator of the Reference Collection of Pelargoniums of the International Geraniaceae Group, he works with many botanical gardens and has been developing an online guide to the genus, www.pelargonium.si, which covers most of the currently known section Hoarea. We are fortunate to have a world class expert speak for us on these extraordinary plants.
Section Hoarea is comprised of about 100, mostly small, daisy-sized pelargonium species with an extensive tuberous rootstock. They are as diverse as the genus as a whole but are not cultivated widely. Hareaas are not well understood and can be found in seasonally wet alluvial habitats, as part of the arid succulent veld, as well as on the high mountains of the Eastern Cape. Following a surge in interest in the section in the 1980s, most of the recent knowledge came from amateur botanists – citizen scientists, which this talk will explore. Please join us for what we are sure will prove to be a captivating talk on these less well known but fascinating plants.