@flowerlab
FLOWer Lab of the Centre for Functional Ecology of the University of Coimbra - Plant #Ecology and #Evolution (in particular #Polyploidy), #Pollination Services and #Agroecology led by João Loureiro and Sílvia Castro
Opening of the “Seeds of Beauty” exhibition, of the Cultural Week of @ucoimbra.bsky.social
The exhibition features striking photographs of seeds from the Seed Collection of the COI Herbarium, captured by Ana Coelho, funded by the Compound Eyes Foundation.
A beautiful meeting of science and art. 🌱
🎙️🐝 Hugo Gaspar from FLOWer Lab joined the podcast Palavra de Cientista to discuss the 2nd IUCN European Bee Red List.
The assessment covered 1,928 species and found 171 threatened with extinction, while reducing Data Deficient species from 57% to 14% since 2014.
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/2SWr...
Drosophyllum lusitanicum, the Portuguese sundew pine, is one of the most unusual plants of our flora.
A carnivorous plant, its leaves are covered with sticky glands that trap small insects.
This strategy allows it to live in nutrient-poor Mediterranean sandy soils. Rare and localized in Portugal.
🦋 First butterfly transect of the FLOWer Lab!
As part of the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, a citizen science initiative coordinated by TAGIS, we surveyed our site in Souselas.
Despite marginal weather conditions, we recorded Gonopteryx sp., Pieris rapae and Callophrys rubi. A promising start! 🌿
Last Thursday, Biology students from @ucoimbra.bsky.social visited the Entomological Collection of the Department of Life Sciences (CE-DCV).
The visit was part of the course Natural History Collections, and was hosted by Hugo Gaspar. CE-DCV houses ~25,000 insect specimens, including ~20,000 bees 🐝
We were delighted to welcome Duarte Figueiredo
Duarte leads the Seed Development & Apomixis lab at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam.
He presented the talk “Molecular mechanisms driving seed formation in angiosperms” at the #dcvtalks 🌱🧬
Many thanks for the visit!
Inauguration of the exhibition “Herbário, Viagem pelo Belo”, as part of the Cultural Week of the @ucoimbra.bsky.social 🎨🌿
The exhibition brings together drawings and watercolours portraying the botanical journey of discovery by artist-in-residence Kotryna Navickaite.
🌍🐝 World Wildlife Day
Plant–pollinator interactions are at the heart of biodiversity.
Every flower visit sustains ecological networks that support wild plants, crops and ecosystem functioning 🌸🦋
Conserving wildlife means conserving these connections.
👩🎓🌱 The FLOWer Lab keeps growing in 2026!
We welcome Tine De Vidts from HOGENT, Belgium, joining us through a long-standing collaboration with the Universidade de Coimbra.
She will work on lab and field techniques within plant ecology & evolution research 🌼🧬
Welcome, Tine!
Many congratulations, old lady! 🎉
736 years is no small milestone. A solidarity walk and run celebrating the anniversary of the Universidade de Coimbra, in the best company.
Team @flowerlab.bsky.social 🏃♀️🌿
Hugo Gaspar (FLOWer Lab, UC) contributed to the new IUCN European Red List of Bees 🐝
10% of Europe’s wild bees are threatened. The report highlights the need for national Red Lists – Portugal still lacks one.
Report:
op.europa.eu/en/publicati...
A2P report:
op.europa.eu/en/publicati...
Already missing the incredible beaches of the Costa da Morte 🌊
Atlantic light, wild dunes and that constant ocean sound and smell, hard not to want to go back.
Yesterday was a hands-in-the-soil day🌱
We potted diploid and tetraploid individuals of Jasione maritima and J. montana, collected last weekend.
A classic question: which is the stronger reproductive barrier, species divergence or ploidy level? 🧬
Crosses will follow once they flower. Stay tuned 🌸
Afternoon potting the plants sampled over the weekend 🌱
From field to controlled conditions, the next step in ensuring proper monitoring and experimental follow-up of the collected material.
The Atlantic coastal dune plants we observed yesterday in Galicia!
Dune systems along the Costa da Morte host highly specialised flora adapted to salt spray, nutrient-poor substrates and intense wind exposure. True beauties, and remarkable examples of ecological resilience in dynamic sandy habitats
Today we were in Galicia carrying out field sampling along the stunning beaches of the Costa da Morte 🌊
A dynamic Atlantic coastline, where strong oceanic influence and geomorphological heterogeneity create remarkable ecological gradients.
Today, plants take the spotlight 👑🌿
We’re sharing some of the winter diversity we found in Coimbra and Souselas, a reminder that even in the colder months, botanical richness quietly persists across the landscape.
Today we’re sharing a wonderful interaction between a hoverfly (Eristalis sp.) and a gorse shrub (Ulex sp.) 🌼
Hoverflies are key generalist pollinators, and observations like this highlight their role in Mediterranean shrubland plant–pollinator networks.
🎨 Concurso de logo para el XIII Congreso SEBICOP.
Buscamos una imagen que represente la conservación de la flora nacional.
📩 Contacto: alfredo.garcia@urjc.es
📍 Aranjuez, 30 junio – 3 julio 2026
Unfortunately, we did not collect the specimens! But it is easy to return and see it again, if you want.
Home sweet home, or perhaps just “home”, since the flowers of Barlia robertiana do not provide nectar to their floral visitors 🌿
Like many orchids, this species relies on deceptive pollination strategies, attracting insects without offering a nectar reward.
Today, we bring you the largest wild orchid you can find in Portugal, Barlia robertiana, photographed in a meadow in Lordemão and Souselas 🌿
A remarkable Mediterranean species, standing out for its size and dense inflorescences.
Huge milestone for #pollinators! 🐝🪰 Members of FLOWer Lab contributed to a new paper in Scientific Data led by the University of Mons. The study compiles 5.3M+ records of European bees & hoverflies, covering 97% of species! Vital data for pollinator conservation. 🌍📉 Infographic made with NotebookLM
A fungus gnat (cf. Sciaridae) visiting Euphorbia characias (Mediterranean spurge) in Coimbra, Portugal
Interaction recorded in Mata de Santa Catarina, Coimbra, PT: a fungus gnat (cf. Sciaridae) visiting Euphorbia characias (Mediterranean spurge).
Observations like this contribute to documenting underexplored Diptera–Euphorbia interactions.
Apologies for the brief focus instability in the video.
And we continue to show you some of the preciousness of the Santa Catarina Forest in Coimbra! Today we bring you these wonderful mushrooms!
FLOWer Lab at #ECOFLOR2026 🌸 in Tortosa (Feb 11–14 2026).
Afonso Petronilho presented his poster on the reproductive ecology of Succisella carvalhoana, a critically endangered Portuguese endemic.
A great and inspiring meeting as always, with valuable discussions and networking opportunities.🐝💪💯
Yesterday in the Mata de Santa Catarina, an Eristalis hoverfly during its daily grooming routine 🪰
A small but meticulous ritual, cleaning wings and antennae, keeping flight performance at its best. Even brief sunny intervals matter.
At the FLOWer Lab we’ve been scouting new sites in Coimbra for future Butterfly Monitoring transects 🦋
Over the next few days, we’ll share some of the small natural gems we found on this first truly sunny day in a long time ☀️
Starting with this fern, cf. Polypodium, and its remarkable sori.
