Discover The Story of Hong Kong’s Trees

Description

The small city of Hong Kong possesses a diverse tree flora with 390 native species. To celebrate the incredible beauty, biology and history of the territory’s tree species, Saunders uses selected species to tease out a diversity of associated narratives, ranging from stories of global exploration and scientific discoveries, the ecology and biology of each species, the various ways in which they have been utilised by mankind, and their different cultural associations.

Saunders is a professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, where he has been working since 1992. His research focuses on the taxonomic diversity of the Asian flora: apart from describing species that are new to science, he reconstructs the evolutionary ‘Tree of Life’ and uses these evolutionary trees to draw inferences about evolutionary processes.

He is also the co-author of the book Portraits of Trees of Kong Kong and Southern China, a piece of collaborative work with botanical artist Sally Grace Bunker. It highlights over 100 important species that are individually illustrated in detailed watercolor paintings. Selected illustrations from the book are exhibited in the upcoming exhibition To See the Forest and the Trees.

Please note that registration is required for this free public event.