🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 Of course, a lot of different species of insects eat plants, which interests some botanists. That combined knowledge has an application in plant protection for agriculture and horticulture. #BUC2026

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 In the live semifinal and final of Botanical University Challenge 2026, the teams had real live plants to identify and explain. See the teams doing this. Can you identify the family of the first plant? #BUC2026

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 Algae appear in several colours. One order of red algae (Rhodophyta) grows over surfaces. It is part of some coral reefs. What is the name of this order? #BUC2026

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 New knowledge in plant taxonomy changes ideas on which ones are most closely related. How about this long-known seaweed that turns out to be in the sea lettuce genus. What was its previous, or common, name? #BUC2026

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡Another question from this year's Botanical University Challenge semifinals. What is the name of this genus of edible fungus found in the UK, Ireland, in fact across forested parts of Eurasia, Africa and North America? #BUC2026

🌱🌾🌺🌿🍫🌎🖌#InternationChocolateDay One of at least 4 international celebrations of chocolate. Essential ingredient is roasted, ground beans (seeds) from cacao tree (Theobroma cacao). Originates from tropical regions of South America, now also grown elsewhere like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia. #BUC2026

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 Botanical University Challenge - some of the questions. What is the name of this species of seaweed? #BUC2026

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 Experts at the Table: idea from a BUC student. Want to spend time talking, rather than listening, to experts from RHS, university academics, professional ecologists, artists, PhD students and postdocs? We did this at 4th Student Botany Festival 2026. #BUC2026

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡Happy memories of Botanical University Challenge this August 2026. Winning team from Cambridge now have their name inscribed on the trophy - along with runner-up Aberdeen 2025 winners! Other semifinalists came so close - Edinburgh and Anglia Ruskin. #BUC2026 #BUC2027

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃🖌🐡 Careers showcase at 4th Student Botany Festival. UK plant societies represented included the Wild Flower Society - for wild flower lovers & amateur botanists in UK & Ireland. Field meetings, online lectures, wild flower diaries. #BUC2026
thewildflowersociety.org.uk