[Taxacom] Illustrating a phylogenetic tree with living plants?

[Björn Salomon]

Dear list-members!  At the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in
Alnarp we have a display garden, where researchers and teachers can show
plant materials and information on current research projects to
undergraduate students and the general public
<http://trglab.ltjfak.slu.se/>. As part of a pedagogic project in a Garden
Design class, I would like to build “a phylogenetic tree of the seed
plants” in this display garden using living plants. It is to illustrate
the tree-thinking in systematics but it is also a practical exercise for
the student that will actually build it. The “tree” is to be a part of the
display garden for several years so I plan to use perennial herbs and
small shrubs and trees as materials. There is no need to reinvent the
wheel, so I am asking you for some guidance as to what similar “trees”
have been done before in gardens and parks around the world - from the
tropics to the arctics? I would like to have earlier experiences as
inspiration and then I can adjust my “tree” to available space, plant
materials for the Swedish climate, budget, audience, and so on. Any hints
regarding links to web pages, pdfs, etc. would be most appreciated!!!

Björn

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 Björn Salomon
 PhD, Assoc. Prof., Sr. Lecturer in Taxonomic Botany
 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
 Dept. of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
 P.O.Box 101
 SE-23053 Alnarp, Sweden

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