Parasitic Plants - a Portsdown Talk

Megan is talking about the parasitic plants of the chalk downland at the Church of The Resurrection on Tuesday 10 November. It's part of the Portsdown talks, and the session gets into the more bizarre side of the local botany, where the low-nutrient soil of the chalk downland drives fierce competition between species and pushes some of them towards 'thievery' to survive.

If you're not familiar with the name, Megan is known across the ecological network as 'Moth Megan'. She works for Portsmouth Countryside Service and the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and she's well known for her enthusiasm for chalk ecosystems—downland and water meadows, as well as hedges and lepidoptera. This talk focuses on the parasitic plants of the area, those that get their nutrients from other plants rather than making their own, and how they fit into the wider landscape of the Portsdown chalk.

It's a look at the plants that thrive in the thin, alkaline soils of the local downland, and the survival strategies they've evolved when nutrients are scarce. The talk is led by Megan herself, and light refreshments are included. The venue is the Church of The Resurrection on Brecon Avenue in Drayton, and the date is Tuesday 10 November.