Dendrobium capitisyork

The Department of Biology’s Botany Greenhouse has a vast collection of plants currently comprising 3,400 accessions in 195 families.

There has been a teaching collection in the former Botany Department and present Department of Biology since the Botany Department’s inception in 1900. Some of the plants in our current collection come from the original teaching collection that was housed in the C.V. Muhlick Conservatory, a small greenhouse that was located elsewhere on campus. This collection was integrated with newer specimens in the current Lord & Burnham style greenhouse, built in 1949. The collections are now grouped by habitat into four rooms: cool tropical (room 2), warm tropical (rooms 5 & 6), and xeric (room 7).

One of the Greenhouse's most showy attractions is the collection of orchids. The Greenhouse has more than 1,100 accessions of orchids in 165 genera including many representatives from the genera Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, Masdevallia, Oncidium, and Phalaenopsis. Many orchids, which are often epiphytes (plants that grow on, but do not necessarily harm, other plants), exhibit fabulous floral displays and remarkable mimicry. For example, Dracula bella has a white floral appendage with folds that resemble the gills of a mushroom. The fungus-like petal lures Dracula bella’s pollinator, the fungus gnat, to the flower.

Welwitschia mirabilis

In addition to orchids, the Greenhouse has many species of cacti and other succulents. One of the more exotic plants in the desert collection is Welwitschia mirabilis. Welwitschia is a type of gymnosperm, or cone-bearing plant. It is native to the Namib Desert in southwestern Africa and is one of the longest-lived plants on earth, with an estimated life span of 2,000 years! The Greenhouse specimens were started from seed in 1996. An adult Welwitschia plant consists of just two leaves, a stem base, and roots. The two leaves continue to grow from their bases for the life of the plant and can reach over 20 feet long!

Popular with students of all ages are the carnivorous plants. These include the well-known venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, and the cobra lily, Darlingtonia californica, which is native to the Pacific Northwest. Also in the collection are 15 species of tropical pitcher plants in the genus Nepenthes.

The Greenhouse also houses an impressive passionflower collection. Currently thought to hold over 500 species, the Passiflora genus is an exceptional demonstration of the diversity that exists in the world of plants.