Entries by Anke Bebber

Early bloomers of the phenological mid spring

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Phenological season: Mid spring The German Weather Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst – DWD) uses the flowering of forsythia and the beginning of leaf development of gooseberry as indicators for mid spring. In the next weeks, fruit trees open their flowers (cherry, pear) and beech and birch start growing their leaves. To monitor mid spring, we’d love […]

Winter aconites in the Rautal valley near Jena

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The Rautal – yellow wonderland The Rautal valley near Jena is known far beyond the borders of Thuringia for its unique mass occurrence of the winter aconite in Central Europe. The yellow carpet of blossoms spreads over almost five hectares and grows larger every year. As soon as the first strong rays of sunshine warm […]

The future of key-based plant identification – a user study

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Our publication “Towards more effective identification keys – a study of people identifying plant species characters” shares insights into this by systematically examining how well people with different backgrounds in botany perceive, understand and relate morphological plant characteristics. In the end, our assessment suggests a set of design principles for intuitive and user-friendly identification keys. […]

What is the earliest flower to bloom?

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The phenological early spring officially begins with the flowering of hazel and snowdrops. Exactly when the first species begin to flower varies greatly over the years, and it also depends on the location. High up in the mountains it is far colder than in the lowlands. There have been observations as early as December, but […]

How do plants survive the winter?

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Plant cells consist largely of water – if this freezes, it expands. This would damage the cells and, in the worst case, kill the plant. So how do plants protect themselves from freezing to death? Botanical winter dormancy The falling leaves of the pedunculate oak, the late-ripening apple and the falling needles of the European […]

Let’s go! Collect Flora Incognita badges for a diverse range of plant observations!

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Since 2018, nature lovers have been identifying and collecting wild flowering plants with our Flora Incognita app, and with the accompanied plant fact sheets, improved their species knowledge constantly. But, as you might know, Flora Incognita is more: Every confirmed observation (the green checkmark in the upper right corner after an identification) contributes to a […]