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| The Collections
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There has been a teaching collection in the Botany Department since its 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 additions in the current Lord & Burnham style greenhouse, built in 1949. The collections, nurtured and expanded over the years by the greenhouse staff, are now grouped into four rooms by habitat, such as xeric, temperate or tropical. One of the greenhouse's most showy attractions is the collection of orchids. These plants, many of them epiphytes (living on, but not harming, other plants), bloom to reveal fabulous stage-sets, elegant floral frauds. Dracula bella mimics fungi, and has white folds of petal that resemble gills of a mushroom to lure their pollinator, fungi-loving flies, while Pleurothallis schiedii presents what looks like bits of rotting flesh, complete with thin white hanging appendages that look like used fly-egg cases. The greenhouse has more than 800 species of orchids in 215 genera including many representatives from such genera as Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, Masdevallia, Oncidium, and Phalaenopsis. |
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In addition to orchids, the greenhouse has around numerous species of cactus and other succulents from deserts all over the world. One of the more unusaul plants in the desert collection is Welwitschia mirabilis. Started from seed 10 years ago, these plants always amaze visitors with their unusual appearance. Welwitschia, native to the Namib Desert in South Africa, is one of the longest-lived plants on earth, with a life span of 1500 years! It belongs to the gymnosperms, or cone-bearing plants and an adult plant consist of just two leaves, a stem base and roots. The oldest plants' leaves are over 20 feet long. Popular with students of all ages are the carnivorous plants. These include the ever popular Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, and the NW native Cobra Lily, Darlingtonia californica. Also in the collection are 15 different species of exotic, tropical pitcher plants in the genus Nepenthes. |
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And don't forget about the "famous" corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum. This monstrous inflorescence is taller than a person and attracts carrion beetles by looking and smelling like rotting meat. The 12th blooming at the Botany Greenhouse took place in 2005 and we look forward to more bloomings in the future. For more about the May 2001 blooming go to: www.washington.edu/newsroom/news/2001archive/05-01archive/k050801.html. |
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The Medicinal Herb Garden
Located on the campus the University of Washington in Seattle, the Medicinal Herb Garden is a resource for herbalists, medics, and botanists of all levels. It is not, however, a source of medical advice or a guide to self-medication. Please consult a qualified health-care professional in your area for advice on using medicinal herbs.