To open our 2022-2023 season we were delighted to welcome Keith Bankier to share his extensive knowledge of flora of this region for our September meeting.

Keith is an experienced and enthusiastic hunter and photographer of wild plants throughout Europe but especially Turkey. He contributed about 50 photos to Peter Sheasby’s new book “Bulbous plants of Turkey and Iran”. In the process he has built up a massive library of the natural world found in these places.

Van (pronounced “Wan”) is perhaps Keith’s favourite place on Earth. Keith’s talk explored the huge volcano of Mount Ararat and others in the area, one of which was responsible for creating Lake Van itself following a huge ancient explosion. The stump left behind, Nemrut Mountain, has an amazing caldera with its own micro climate and many endemic plants. The snowy mountains to the South are also home to many endemic plants including extraordinarily beautiful bulbs.