Botany Spotlight: Oaks—Field Session

Eastern North Carolina’s rich array of native oaks is second only to those of Mexico. Learn more about this fascinating and important group of plants, including their biology, how to identify and distinguish them, and how they impact and interact with their environment.

This field session with Paul Manos, Duke University biology professor and Duke Herbarium curator, will be in person and primarily outdoors at the Gardens, and includes examining plants and fine-tuning your identification skills. The oaks at Duke Gardens illustrate the considerable variety and the plasticity of the species. Examining these plants with Paul’s guidance will help bring together research and reality. Meet in the classroom in the Doris Duke Center.

For a review of the oak tree of life (a model for understanding oak tree evolution) and current research ahead of the field session, register for the virtual session on October 24.

Paul Manos, Ph.D., researches woody plants with a focus on the evolution and ecology of Fagaceae (the oak family). His work takes a new look at evolutionary and ecological relationships within the oak family in order to better understand species adaptation and distribution.

Parking included.