6June: Royal Botanic garden curators remove tree fossil
Moving Scotland’s largest plant fossil: Philip Rye, conservator, and Nigel Larkin, a palaeontologist curator, hoist a section of Scotland's largest plant fossil, the 10-ton 10.5m long remains of Pitys withamii (an extinct group of plants) for conservation work and safekeeping during the Garden’s 7 year Edinburgh Biomes project. The fossil was excavated at Craigleith Quarry in 1830, where it would have formed part of the swamp forests 320-340 million years ago. The Biomes project includes extensive refurbishment to the existing Victorian Palm Houses and 1960s glasshouses