BCSS - Forum

Probably, because they did not set it up to present the pm talks on Zoom? I'm disgusted too!

Our talks take place twice a month on the first and third Tuesday with members and friends all equally welcome. Please contact the talks team at bcss.talk@gmail.com if you have any suggestions or ideas for talks or speakers, or indeed would like to give a presentation yourself.
Please remember that in the UK the clocks have recently changed from GMT to BST and moved forward one hour.

Topic: Wolfgang Borgmann - How plants get their names
Time: Tuesday 2 May 2023 at 7.30pm (BST)

Meeting ID: 837 9593 7993
Passcode: bcss
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83795937993?p ... k5djJ0dz09

Wolfgang Borgmann studied biology and some civil engineering. He currently works in adult education, mainly in the field of corporate management systems. His hobby and interest in cacti and other succulents started as a schoolboy about 50 years ago.
His background in biology helps him to better understand the ecology of these plants, as well as questions about their relationships and naming. Thanks to his didactic experience, he is unperturbed by the prospect of teaching harmless hobbyists about nomenclature and taxonomy!
Wolfgang’s talk is primarily intended to explain why changes in the names of plants can occur, when they are obligatory and how, in other cases, one can opt for one of the existing choices, i.e., either stay with the familiar name or adopt a new name. Even if it is not always easy to recognise, there is a logic according to which the naming and classification of our favourite plants works from a scientific point of view. To make this understandable, some examples from the world of cacti and other succulents will be presented.

Thank you very much for letting me be your speaker yesterday! I hope you enjoyed my talk at least half as much as I did. As I am still suffering from my accident this winter (not as much as a few weeks ago!), preparing and giving this talk was a welcome diversion and a pleasure for me.
I am a - somewhat irregular - reader here on the forum and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Regards
Wolfgang

Thanks Wolfgang for making what could have been a boring technical talk into an interesting one.
And it was nice to hear for someone like yourself say something I say to people so often . It does not matter what name you put on your plant label, so long as it was valid at some point in the past.
Hope you feel much better soon.

Wiebe Bosma – Succulents and more from Tanzania
Time: Tuesday 16 May 2023 at 7.30pm (BST)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89063064071?p ... RNTVZpQT09

Topic: Hazel Taylor – Plants and Animals of the Western Cape – Part 1
Time: Tuesday 6 June 2023 at 7.30pm (BST)

Meeting ID: 831 8991 8014
Passcode: bcss

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83189918014?p ... d6Z0ZGUT09

Hazel Taylor received her first cactus at the age of eight and has been a member of the BCSS and its predecessor for over 50 years. At university she studied natural sciences, specialising in biochemistry, and then completed a PhD in bacterial genetics.
In this talk, Hazel takes us on a tour of south-west Africa beginning at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town. During the tour we are presented with a plethora of fascinating plants represented by the Moraea, Crassula, Argyroderma and Aloe species, to name but a few. In addition to plants, we see other forms of life ranging from grasshoppers to reptiles and penguins. Our tour continues as far north as Nieuwoudtville and the Hantam Botanical Garden.

Tonight at 7 o'clock in the UK.
https://twitter.com/CactusSucculent/sta ... aN_8g&s=19

Acid John wrote: ↑Sun Jun 18, 2023 11:10 am Tonight at 7 o'clock in the UK.
https://twitter.com/CactusSucculent/sta ... aN_8g&s=19

I am not so sure about the time there!
I have the following information:



Mesembs Virtually - Quarterly Zoom meeting - Sunday 18 June at 7.30pm (BST), 11:30am (California)
"The Strangeness of Mesembs" by Steven Brack, Co-founder of Mesa Garden

Join the Mesemb Study Group, the BCSS Manchester Branch, and the San Francisco Succulent & Cactus Society for this unique live installment of MesembsVirtually, broadcast on Zoom from the San Francisco Succulent Show in Northern California. The room will open 30 minutes early at 7:00pm (BST) for a tour of the display tables. Please note your local time may vary if you are not in the UK.

How do you survive in a surreal landscape? Members of the mesemb family (Aizoaceae) have adapted to life in dry climates by making thick succulent leaves (or in a few cases roots). Other desert plants like cacti have spines to keep away herbivores, but mesembs solved this problem by developing a discouragingly bitter taste. Due to South Africa's stable climate over a long time frame,they have evolved into a myriad of shapes and colors. If you watch the talk you will also learn about anisophylly, where plants have uneven leaf pairs.

Steve Brack started growing cacti and succulents from seed in 1970. In 1976 he and his wife started Mesa Garden - one of the most respected seed distributors in the hobby - and operated it for 41 years. He is well known as a presenter and explorer of succulent ecosystems from South Africa to his home state of New Mexico.



I don't know if I can post the zoom login information. But I am sure if it is open to the public, one of the Mesemb Study Group representatives will post it here.
(Although I already see it online via: https://sfsucculent.org/topics/05-2023/ ... ophyllous/)

The ACTUAL TUESDAY TALK ( note title of thread) is below, this should be a really nice talk from Thomas,
ENJOY

Topic: Thomas Guerry – Discovering Baja California
Time: Tuesday 20 June 2023 at 7.30pm (BST)
Meeting ID: 869 1940 7727
Passcode: bcss

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kHWpNJnO

Thomas Guerry is a chemical engineer and has been growing cacti since he was a teenager − about 20 years ago. He is passionate about small opuntias and has travelled several times to South America to see these plants in habitat, as well as other cacti of course.

After trips to Argentina and Chile, he went to Mexico to discover Baja California. As he set out on this adventure, he was not familiar with the cacti of this region but by the end of the trip, he had enormously enriched his knowledge of the subject. His talk will focus on ten different locations in Baja California, each being special for a different reason: the variety of plants, landscapes, sought-after species, etc.

Gutted it's right in the middle of my Ryanair flight, doubt they'll provide it as onboard entertainment...