#HireABotanistNextTime

The official Team Canada hockey jerseys for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Beijing came out on Tuesday, Nov 23 and it became clear that no botanist was consulted when the logo was created.

This prompted Prof. Marc Johnson to post on Twitter

and start a conversation on these logos and even on the penny. And then, Richie Assaly from Toronto Star noticed the thread and brought it to a national level.

Professor Marc Johnson said:

The new Jersey design isn’t botanically accurate if they are trying to depict one of Canada’s native maples. It looks somewhere in between a maple (genus Acer) and an introduced London Planetree (Platanus x acerifolia). That hybrid would be new for science and pretty cool if it wasn’t an artist’s rendition of a maple leaf. While a quick consult with a botanist probably would have improved the jersey a little, I’ll cheer for Canada’s women’s and men’s hockey teams no matter what is on the jersey as they go for Gold. I think the curling jerseys (link) are pretty inspired – LOVE those ones!

Please, #HireABotanistNextTime Hockey Canada