[2019-05-21] On Saturday, 18th of May, the 5th Fascination of Plants Day was celebrated in Umeå with a public event. Almost 300 visitors came to Kafé Fika at Väven and got involved in many different activities around plants and plant science.
What colours are hidden in the leaves of plants? Why are the interactions between plants and insects so important? What are microalgae and how can they be used? The visitors were invited to hands-on activities around those and other topics. They could isolate DNA from strawberries, prepare seed bombs and learn more about how to grow mushrooms.
The aim of the Fascination of Plants Day is to fascinated people for plants and to generate awareness for the importance of plant science. It was launched under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and was first organised in 2012 on a European level but is now internationally celebrated. This year more than 800 events across 51 countries were organised.
The event in Umeå was organised by scientists from the Umeå Plant Science Centre, the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, both from Umeå University, the Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, the Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, all three from SLU, by Skogforsk, the Forestry Research Institute of Sweden, the Swedish Bonsai society (Bonsaisällskapet) and the Broparken gardening project.
Laxmi Mishra from the Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, demonstrated for the visitors the different looks of thale cress
Johan Westin from Skogforsk presents the fascinating variation of forest trees.
Yohann Daguerre (front left) and Regina Gratz (left back) from UPSC challenged the visitors with their botanical quiz
Photos: Anna Shevtsova