Upcoming Events

Identifying Fynbos Plants: An Introduction

Due to COVID the numbers are limited to 6 participants per course.

Course 1: Fynbos weekend ID course

• Sat 15 May and Sunday 16 May. Field trip on Sunday 29 May 2021
• Venue: 7 Lysander Way, Meadowridge
• Cost: R2500. (includes course notes and a hand lens)

Course 2: Fynbos 4 day ID course

• Tuesday 1 June to Friday 4 June. Field Trip on Sat 5 June 2021
• Venue: 7 Lysander Way, Meadowridge, Cape Town
• Cost : R4250. (includes course notes, dissecting tools and a hand lens)

Prerequisites: 
A keen interest in plants and your lunch to share.

Description:
It is very easy to get the name of an unknown plant using the iNaturalist app, but if you are interested in more than just the species names, this course is for you. These workshops are a fun, practical, interactive crash course getting to grips with botanical terminology that will improve your identification skills. You will learn to look for the relevant characters on plants and use keys in plant guides, such as John Manning’s Field Guide to Fynbos, to identify plants to Family and Genus level. You will also become familiar with the most common family ‘hooks’ to help you make better sense of plants when in the field.

Difference between the two courses? Both courses begin with finding out what participants know about plants and terminology that is used in books to describe plants. Participants  use live plants to look carefully at the whole plant and practice new terminology by drawing and reading up information in field guides. The only difference between the 2 courses is the number of different plants and families that can be investigated.