Think pink

The University of Otago’s beloved magnolia is boasting its first blooms of the year, indicating to the university community the impending arrival of spring.

The tree, located in the Quad between the department of geology and the Clocktower, was planted in 1965 by Dr Geoff Baylis, head of the botany department from 1945 to 1979, and is now dedicated to his memory.

Each year since 1995, former geology department manager John Williams recorded the date of the first bloom, dubbed "Magnolia Day", and that tradition is now continued by geology’s Hamish Bowman.

This year’s first bud was observed to be opening around 11am on Sunday, August 6, by geology staff member Dr Steve Smith. By the following morning it was fully open.