Press release from TU Darmstadt @tuda.bsky.social on the exciting discovery of the Great capricorn beetle (Cerambyx cerdo) in the botanical garden: www.tu-darmstadt.de/universitaet...

Nice image movie by TU Darmstadt @tuda.bsky.social with participation of our doctoral candidate Arooj @aroojsajjad.bsky.social! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhND...

Peter Kappel @peterkappel.bsky.social from @poppingalab.bsky.social introduced me to the fascinatingly mobile, three-dimensional jaws of leeches with some clever imaging experiments

The Darth Vader plant, Aristolochia salvadorensis!

Coffee party time with our friend's association: great weather and flowering Aloe ovatifolia - not much left to be desired :)

Some biology students received a very special, unofficial certificate at this year's graduation ceremony...

Plant identification exerises - every student's dream!

Great talk by our guest Prof. Linnea Hesse from Hamburg University about the functional morphology of plants in 3D and over time. Let's hope we can do even more together in the future! Foto by Arooj Sajjad.

Relaxed interview shooting for a TUDa-related movie in our Botanical Garden. Thanks Arooj @aroojsajjad.bsky.social for your participation!

Maybe someone has a fitting paper in the pipeline? The Journal of Biosciences launches a Special Issue about functional morphology and biomechanics of plants and animals. Guest editors for this issue are Wencke Krings, Simon Poppinga, Thomas Speck, and Stanislav Gorb. www.ias.ac.in/Journals/Jou...

From June 14-22, the BioBlitz, a participatory campaign for citizens to record the diversity of wild species, will take place in the Botanical Garden of the TU Darmstadt @tuda.bsky.social. There will also be a special day of action on June 14 from 11 a.m. We look forward to beautiful finds!

Wir begrüßen Simon Poppinga @poppingalab.bsky.social als neuen außerplanmäßigen Professor am Fachbereich Biologie. Poppinga forscht zu Biomechanik, Funktionsmorphologie und Biomimetik und leitet seit 2022 den Botanischen Garten der TU Darmstadt. Zum Interview 👉 www.tu-darmstadt.de/universitaet...

The TU Darmstadt @tuda.bsky.social Open Campus day was a blast - good weather (mostly) and 6 hrs of non-stop discussing plant science with the public. A huge thanks to the team, @aroojsajjad.bsky.social and Peter Kappel! Photo by Sebastian Hess.

We will be supporting the TU Darmstadt Open Campus - Tag der Wissen schaf(f)t with an information stand about the Botanic Garden and ongoing research projects, a guided tour of the biodiversity measures on the Campus Lichtwiese, and a children's lecture on carnivorous plants!

Echium wildpretii in front of the Teide volcano, during our botanical excursion to Tenerife. Photo by Kerstin Reifenrath.

The dead horse arum lily (Helicodiceros muscivorus) temporarily captures its pollinators in so-called kettle traps.

Deherainia smaragdina surprises with green petals and a strong cheesefoot odor...

In order to promote biodiversity, a new maintenance concept for some areas on the Lichtwiese campus of TU Darmstadt is being implemented as part of a pilot project with the involvement of the Botanic Garden. www.tu-darmstadt.de/nachhaltigke...

Flowering Mibora minima, the smallest grass in the world.

Lots of pollen on the yew (Taxus baccata), during a public guided tour in the Botanical Garden :)

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) in full bloom

Bulbophyllum lasiochilum has a motile labellum for pollinator interaction.

That's quite a catch!

In addition to suction, the anterior and posterior suckers of the Mediterranean medicinal leech (Hirudo verbana) can also hold on by grasping, clinging and other effects. The BiPas project in our lab investigates this further! Image from DOI: /10.1098/rsif.2020.0300

Beautiful orchestration of Jeffrey's pine cone scales during drying. doi.org/10.3390/plan...

The flower of Roridula gorgonias, a carnivorous plant with symbiotic bugs that feed on prey caught in glue traps and fertilize the plant with their excrement.

Our Nepenthes alata x merrilliana captured a big cockroach!

The leptosporangium of Adiantum peruvianum shooting its spores, recorded with 50.000 fps

Selaginella uncinata, the blue spikemoss, has a striking bluish shimmer that supports photosynthesis in shady environments.

The aquatic carnivorous Waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa) uses underwater snap-traps, which close within ca. 20 milliseconds. However, this small crustacean was lucky and quick enough to escape the trap after triggering the closing process. The footage is slowed down 50x.

Triggering the snap-trap of the carnivorous Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), slowed down 20x.

The aquatic carnivorous Waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa) uses underwater snap-traps, which close within ca. 20 milliseconds. However, this small crustacean was lucky and quick enough to escape the trap after triggering the closing process. The footage is slowed down 50x.

The aquatic carnivorous Southern Bladderwort (Utricularia australis) captures its microcrustacean prey with ultra-fast suction traps. The process lasts only a few milliseconds; this footage was slowed down 500x.

Wolffia arrhiza, the smallest flowering plant in the world!