GK-12 Science Safari 2013
Heather Gibb, a graduate student in Anthropology, and a Showmenature GK-12 fellow, set up six “archaeology sites” in the north room of the Tucker greenhouse. Students had to map their findings. If you’d like to learn more, please click on GK-12 above.
Homalocladium platycladium, or Tapeworm plant is found in the Polygonaceae or knotweed family. This plant has very strange flat, segmented stems. It is a native of the Solomon Islands and grows to 1.5 to 3.5 meters in height. If you’d like to see this plant, look for it in the north greenhouse on the east bench.
Tapeworm plant-Polygonaceae family
Eucharis grandiflora, commonly called the Amazon Lily, is found in the Amaryllidaceae family, the same family as Daffodils and Amaryllis.
The Amazon Lily is a shade loving plant with hosta-like leaves, native to Ecuador, & it grows from a bulb, much like that of a daffodil. Its beautiful, fragrant white flowers bloom at different times of the year, but our Tucker greenhouse specimen is blooming right now in the northern greenhouse, on the eastern most bench. If you look closely at one of the flowers, you’ll see that the six stamens (male parts of the flower) are arranged in a staminal cup surrounding the pistil (female part of flower). The fragrance of these flowers gets stronger throughout the day. It’s sort of sweet & spicy. Check it out!
Eucharis grandiflora
Amazon Lily scapose inflorescence
Side view of flower showing the six stamens
In the desert room, looking closely at a Carrion flower (Stapelia gigantea) in bloom. I’m explaining to the students that this flower smells of rotting flesh. Carrion flies are attracted to it, and proceed to lay their eggs on it. The flower is inadvertently pollinated by these flies. Smart plant!
Showing the students the chocolate (Theobroma cacao) plant.
Students posing in the Tropical room on the bridge above the gold fish pond.
Yes, you will. If you visit the Tucker greenhouse these days, you’ll likely see several different species of plants booming with very unusual inflorescences. A Spathe & Spadix is a type of inflorescence found in the Araceae (Arum or Philodendron family). It consists of a large spathe, which is simply a large, leaf-like bract, sometimes brightly colored to attract pollinators. The spathe surrounds and protects the spadix, which is a small spike with small flowers crowded onto a thickened axis. The Tucker greenhouse houses dozens of different plants found within the Araceae family. Dr. Chris Pires recently donated 12 bulbs of Amorphophallus titanum, or the Titan arum. Much more about this plant in later posts.
With the help of a fellow coworker, Chris Todd, we just finished photographing all of the currently blooming Arums in the Tucker Greenhouse to date. Enjoy!
Anthurium sp.
Spathiphyllum sp.
Aglaonema sp.
Sauromatum guttatum
Alocasia infernalis
Another giant Spathiphyllum
Female flowers at bottom of spike, male at top
Zamioculcas zamifolia
Alocasia amazonica, also known as the African Mask plant
Spathe and spadix of a Caladium plant
If you are new to campus, but you have a smart phone, you can now download a free app from Gomizzou that is equipped with Location Information Manager. It will tell you how to find Tucker Hall, the Tucker Greenhouse, the Tucker Mini-Prairie, etc. It will also list the hours of operation, and it will allow you to access the Tucker Greenhouse website too! Check it out.
Coffea arabica, commonly known as coffee, is found in the Rubiaceae family. The Tucker Greenhouse coffee plant, located in the Tropical Greenhouse in the northeast corner, has produced dozens of coffee beans for the very first time. These beans are ripening slowly, and are almost completely red. There might be enough to make one very small cup of ‘Tucker Greenhouse Shade Grown Organic coffee’.
Ripe coffee beans
Odontonema stricta, commonly called Firespike, is found in the Acanthaceae family. It is native to South America. It grows well in partial shade, has red, tubular-shaped blooms in the fall, and reaches heights of 2 meters. It is used extensively in southern gardens as a butterfly and hummingbird nectar plant. I’ll post more pictures as the flowers open on its long, racemose inflorescence. This plant is located in the tropical greenhouse, to the right of the entrance.
Close-up of inflorescence
Odontonema strictum
(Acanthaceae)
Firespike plant
Fully opened flower on a raceme inflorescence
Zephyranthes sp. (Amaryllidaceae family)
This sweet flower typically lasts only one day. If you’d like to see it today, go into the succulent greenhouse and look on the east bench. This genus is closely related to Daffodils, and Amaryllis. The leaves on this plant are very narrow, and linear. The plant in the background with green leaves and red veins belongs to a Caladium plant growing nearby.
