Updated:
20 June 2007
Botany
Research Greenhouse Tour
Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
Interns
in the mist
Ben
Linzmeier and Susie Pilaar with greenhouse
manager Mike Bordelon.
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
Emma
Harrower and Laura Lagomarsino
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
The
Botany research greenhouses are not your
typical greenhouses where the plants are
cultured for their showy beauty. Here
the research greenhouses serve as keepers
of living materials scientists have brought
back from the field for further research
and study, including additional preservation
of parts. The living samples provide a
great opportunity to cultivate specimens
until they come into flower or fruit,
and then the chance to preserve the material
such as this fluid preserved specimen,
a member of the Zingiberaceae.
Botanical
specimens are typically first "fixed"
in FAA, a mixture of formalin, acetic
acid and alcohol. Once the tissue is fixed
the specimens are transferred to 70% ETOH
and cateloged into the fluid collection
series.
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
Emma
Harrower
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
This
banana plant (Musa sp.)a member
of the family Musaceae, has leaves that
grow up to 3.5 meters in length. Banana
plants are often mistaken for trees because
of their size and structure. The fruit
is grown in 132 countries worldwide, more
than any other fruit crop. The flower
of the plant, pictured here, is used in
soups and curries in Southeast Asia.
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
Botany
intern Emma Harrower excitedly presents
information about the fruit of a Heliconia
to Amy Marquardt, Cecily Marroquin, and
Kris Rhodes.
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
A
close-up view of the tropical flower Heliconia,
commonly known as "lobster-claw."
Forest hummingbirds feed on the nectar
of Heliconias, and one variety of hummingbird
actually nests in the Heliconia's leaves!
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
Streams
of light beautifully shade this tropical
flower, Curcuma, a member of the
Zingiberaceae, or ginger, family. Curcuma
was first described by Linnaeous, "the
father of modern taxonomy," in 1753.
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
Almost
worthy of a space in the National Portrait
Gallery, this photo taken by Emma Harrower
captures the vivid colors of an African
Costus, a genus of perennial (living
more than two years) tropical herbs.
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
Students
Laura Florez, Satrio Wicaksono, Elis Marina
Silva, Santiago Herrera, Andrew Furness,
Kris Rhodes, Suzanne Pilaar and Laura
Lagomarsino crowd around one of the famous
tropical plants at the Botany Research
Greenhouse, this one in particular, an
Amorphophallus. The name Amorphophallus
comes from ancient Greek amorpho, "without
form" and phallus, "penis"
due to the extra large spike-like inflorescence
produced. Specimens in this genus are
pollinated by insects attracted to rotting
flesh. To attract these pollinators the
plant has evolved to mimic these odors,
thereby attracting the pollinating flies,
when it is in flower.
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Greenhouse
Tour
1
June 2007
Found
off from the crowd, Botany interns Laura
Lagomarsino and Emma Harrower contemplating
pollination biology of Globba.
Globba, comprised of 100 species,
is one of the largest genera in the primarily
tropical Zingiberaceae family.
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Photo
captions by Morgan Little
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