a nice day at the greenhouse
the university of connecticut's botanical conservatory is fantastic. last month, ben and i spent about half a day there, admiring the plants and chatting with the staff. one of ben's recent projects is a collection of symbols, each one representing an extant order of plants, so we've been talking about them a lot lately. what's the most iconic plant in each order? how are they all related? i love this stuff. so, we went to the greenhouse and had a great time.
they have so many plants! and, much to my delight, they also have a really excellent website documenting their collection: florawww.eeb.uconn.edu
each of their 2500+ plants has its own page with information about it. some are simple, with little more than the aquisition date and coutry of origin, but many of them are quite detailed. some have flowering time data going back decades! all of the pages i've seen have had internal and external references linked at the bottom, which i'd love to dive into eventually...
...but right now i'd rather show you some of the photos i took on a very nice day. :-)
Sarracenia, or pitcher plant (order Ericales). these are carnivorous! it took me a minute to notice the flowers because they're the same color as the leaves, but once i did i was really wowed. the big, umbrella-shaped style is so wild.
an unlabeled pot of liverworts found in the horsetail section. some of the nearby pots (which had horsetail labels) also have liverworts in them, so i think they're taking over?
not a plant, but a dear friend and ally: the green frog. "we didn't put him there. he just keeps finding his way inside." - greenhouse staff (paraphrased)
Citrus trifoliata, or japanese bitter orange (order Sapindales). the accession date for this one is in 1985! this tree is older than me, but still so small. i love how green the trunk is. very cute.
an aside: if you're interested at all in taxonomy, please look into the genus Citrus. what's going on with those guys?
Larryleachia cactiformis, or hondebal (order Gentianales). most of the photos you can find of this species show the flowers fully open, but here they're not because the weather was so dark and wet. just a little peek.
light rain turned into a downpour during our visit. some of the rain came through gaps in the greenhouse roofs, but i think it added to the experience.
Passiflora, or passion flower (order Malpighiales). so pretty. i imagine they're like little amusement parks for insect pollinators.
Amorphophallus bulbifer, or voodoo lily (order Alismatales). aroid flowers are awesome and i love the pattern on the stem. i didn't notice until sitting down to write this that the plant in the background (NO WATER) is the famously stinky one.
Aristolochia, or birthwort or pipevine or dutchman's pipe (order Piperales).
ummmm... wow. i love the funky shape.
Marsilea quadriflora, or water clover (order Salvinales). this is an aquatic fern that evolved to look like a clover! so cute!
Ophioglossum petiolatum, or stalked adder's tongue (order Ophioglossales). another cute fern! i spent a long time in the fern room getting rained on because i like them so much.
a collection of what i think may be propagations and seedlings, under the only grow light that was turned on while we were there. most of them had handwritten labels.
and finally... one little mushroom. life finds a way...!