Penn State Botany Greenhouse

Penn State Botany Greenhouse Welcome to the official page for Penn State’s Eberly College of Science’s Botany Greenhouse!

Meet Liam, one of the greenhouse’s interns for the fall semester. Liam is a Plant Science major and International Agricu...
08/28/2026

Meet Liam, one of the greenhouse’s interns for the fall semester. Liam is a Plant Science major and International Agriculture minor. He will be in the greenhouse this semester working with Kim for a few hours each week. His project will focus on propagating seed he collected this summer in Australia and then creating a plant care guide for the plants that are added to the collection. He is pictured planting some of the unique seeds he brought back.

If you happen to be in the Lloyd Driver Orchid Collection in the next few weeks, look up! One of our Nepenthes is bloomi...
08/27/2026

If you happen to be in the Lloyd Driver Orchid Collection in the next few weeks, look up! One of our Nepenthes is blooming! The plant collections in the Botany Greenhouse houses 5 different tropical Nepenthes specimens. Did you know that Nepenthes plants are dioecious? This means that the plant produces male and female flowers on separate plants. Based on the blooms and unopened buds, our plant is male. Male buds are round and ball-shaped while female buds are elongated and oval. Male flowers have a slender stalk ending in an anther with a yellow, pollen-covered surface which looks like a small button. They release yellow dust-like pollen when mature. Female flowers have a small, sticky green platform which is the stigma and is meant to catch pollen. The stigma of a female flower sits atop a swollen vase-shaped base which is the o***y.

It is the first day of classes for fall semester and the greenhouse is ready to welcome all the students. Vlad and I wer...
08/24/2026

It is the first day of classes for fall semester and the greenhouse is ready to welcome all the students. Vlad and I were busy this summer getting ready for their return. Hopefully our work provides an educational, relaxing and quiet space for new and returning students this fall! Here is a little sneak peek of what you might see in the greenhouse this week! Vladimir Dmitriyev Jr.

In July, we posted about our ponytail palm preparing to bloom in the Denise Orndorff Teaching Collection. Well, it’s a b...
08/20/2026

In July, we posted about our ponytail palm preparing to bloom in the Denise Orndorff Teaching Collection. Well, it’s a boy! These plants are dioecious meaning male and female flowers are produced on separate plants and you can only tell upon maturity when they bloom. Our ponytail palm’s flowers opened to show off beautiful white flowers which indicate that it is a male. A female ponytail palm produces pink blooms. Male ponytail palms not only produce a white flower but also release pollen while the female palms eventually would produce papery seed capsules if successfully pollinated. Since our last post we did a little digging and one of the former graduate assistants that worked in the greenhouse, Elizabeth, showed us that it had bloomed in March 2024! Fingers crossed we see another bloom in 2028!

Awhile back we posted about trying to propagate Welwitschia mirabilis to add some new ones to the collection. With the h...
08/19/2026

Awhile back we posted about trying to propagate Welwitschia mirabilis to add some new ones to the collection. With the help of Marlene Simon, the curator, and Ryan Booke at the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory we were able to germinate some new additions. Thank you Marlene and Ryan! Thank you UC Davis Botanical Conservatory!

Friday was Vlad’s last day in the greenhouse this summer. We accomplished a lot of things in the greenhouse together ove...
08/17/2026

Friday was Vlad’s last day in the greenhouse this summer. We accomplished a lot of things in the greenhouse together over the last few months. Vlad worked on repotting, identifying and labeling orchids and other tropical plants. He also helped re-organize portions of the greenhouse to provide more ideal conditions for the plants and helped with many projects. We will miss you! Vladimir Dmitriyev Jr.

Cacao update! We have some more cacao pods starting to form on our trees! Fingers crossed the trees don’t terminate the ...
08/13/2026

Cacao update! We have some more cacao pods starting to form on our trees! Fingers crossed the trees don’t terminate the pods early!

One of the greenhouse’s Aristolochia gigantea are blooming on their new arbors in the hallway!
08/10/2026

One of the greenhouse’s Aristolochia gigantea are blooming on their new arbors in the hallway!

Chocolate tree update! The cacao pod on one of our older specimens is still growing! Did you know cacao trees grow flowe...
08/07/2026

Chocolate tree update! The cacao pod on one of our older specimens is still growing! Did you know cacao trees grow flowers directly on the trunk and large branches rather than on new twigs? This is called caulifory. This allows the heavy cocoa pods to grow securely on the strong main trunks rather than on delicate outer branches. Furthermore, it makes it easier for tiny pollinating insects, like biting midges, to visit the flower. Our newest specimen tree and another one of our older specimens are currently blooming and you can see this cool adaptation. The greenhouse staff is excited, and we currently have Vlad working on pollinating some more flowers. Fingers crossed that the pollination is successful and we have some more cacao pods soon! Vladimir Dmitriyev Jr.

There must be something in the air over the last few weeks because the greenhouse is popping with color. I hope you enjo...
08/05/2026

There must be something in the air over the last few weeks because the greenhouse is popping with color. I hope you enjoy these beautiful blooms that can be found in the Lloyd Driver Orchid collection!

Address

Buckhout Lab
University Park, PA
16803

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 3pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 3pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 3pm
Thursday 9:30am - 3pm
Friday 9:30am - 3pm

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