Penn State Botany Greenhouse

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

We have known our Sinningia helleri in our collections is quite rare, however, we didn’t know the interesting story behi...
10/19/2026

We have known our Sinningia helleri in our collections is quite rare, however, we didn’t know the interesting story behind it. Sinningia helleri is the first species described under that name, in 1825. It was grown and valued for many years as a fine decorative plant suitable for greenhouses and similar environments, however, it was lost to cultivation in 1907. No wild populations had been described since its first collection, and it was thought to be extinct. A small and threatened population was discovered in Brazil in 2015, and the species is now again in cultivation. This plant has an exposed tuber called a caudex, glossy green to silvery-gray tapered leaves with purplish-red undersides, and clusters of white-to-pale-yellow flowers that emerge from a vivid dark red calyx.

Today, Ruthie, one of the greenhouse interns, is working on propagating some Green Ball Dianthus cuttings. This Dianthus...
10/16/2026

Today, Ruthie, one of the greenhouse interns, is working on propagating some Green Ball Dianthus cuttings. This Dianthus is commonly used in the floral industry and is called Green Trick Carnation. They are a unique, petal-free variety that has fluffy, bright lime-green globe-shaped blooms that look like mossy spheres. We are hoping to add some of this unique plant to the collections.
If you are a Penn State student and interested in working in the greenhouse next semester propagating plants, pruning and other greenhouse tasks, we are currently looking to fill our internship positions for the Spring 2027 semester. The internship requires a few hours each week in the greenhouse and completion of a project to benefit the greenhouse and its visitors!

Some of the orchids in the Lloyd Driver Orchid Collection have been putting on quite the show this month. Pictured are a...
10/12/2026

Some of the orchids in the Lloyd Driver Orchid Collection have been putting on quite the show this month. Pictured are a few of the orchids that are blooming!

Throughout the greenhouse, you can find our Hibiscus waimeae blooming. This hibiscus is a rare tree native to Hawaii. It...
10/07/2026

Throughout the greenhouse, you can find our Hibiscus waimeae blooming. This hibiscus is a rare tree native to Hawaii. It is one of the few hibiscus species with fragrant flowers. The flowers while beautiful only last for a day or two. The species includes two subspecies, ssp. waimeae, which we house in the biology greenhouse, and the critically endangered ssp. hannerae, which features much smaller flowers and lives in just a few northwestern valleys in Hawaii.

We learn something new everyday in the greenhouse. While watering today we noticed black spots on the leaves of our Ficu...
10/06/2026

We learn something new everyday in the greenhouse. While watering today we noticed black spots on the leaves of our Ficus deltoidea. It gave us a little scare since we thought it might have a disease, however, after a little research we came across some fascinating information. Ficus deltoidea, also known as the mistletoe fig, has distinctive black or dark brown modified pores in the corners of major leaf veins on the underside of the leaves. These pores are called hydathodes. They also appear as small golden dots on the top of the leaf and are able to exude water and salts in the early morning.

Today the greenhouse staff is working on adding a few new plants to the collection! A local plant enthusiast donated thr...
09/28/2026

Today the greenhouse staff is working on adding a few new plants to the collection! A local plant enthusiast donated three bananas: Truly Tiny, Super Dwarf Cavendish and Kokopo to the collections. We were also gifted some pawpaw seedlings and a cardamom plant. Did you know the Kokopo banana is a short season banana that can go from planting to fruiting in just 7-8 short months? The fruit is high in vitamin A and beta carotene. We are super excited about these additions.

It isn’t the right time of year for this post, just yet, but winter is right around the corner. The greenhouse is home t...
09/23/2026

It isn’t the right time of year for this post, just yet, but winter is right around the corner. The greenhouse is home to Dendropemon caribaeus, which is more commonly known as mistletoe. These unique plants are hemi-parasitic epiphytes that grow on the branches of various trees and shrubs, extracting water and nutrients via specialized structures called haustoria. One of the greenhouse’s interns, Ruthie, recently attached some mistletoe seeds to a small citrus tree and it appears that two of the seeds have germinated. Mistletoe seeds are coated in viscin, a thick, extremely sticky substance, that allows the seed to firmly attach to a host plant. This acts as a natural glue and is vital for propagation. The viscin will cement the seed in place once dry so it cannot be washed away by tropical rains or blown off by wind. The seed will germinate on the bark and attempt to form a connection point called haustorium to pe*****te the host's tissue. Pictured are the two seeds that are attempting to form the haustorium. Pictured is also a brown, dried out seed that unfortunately failed to germinate. Ruthie also helped prep some cuttings from our citrus plants so that we can eventually try to expand our mistletoe collection.

Our Aristolochia gigantea is flowering! Rather than producing the undesirable smell of rotting flesh, like other plants ...
09/21/2026

Our Aristolochia gigantea is flowering! Rather than producing the undesirable smell of rotting flesh, like other plants in the Aristolochia genus, A. gigantea produces a scent that is described as citrusy or musty when luring in pollinators. Pictured is a large, opened flower and then a smaller immature flower.

The greenhouse is home to multiple types of carnivorous plants. One such plant is our Nepenthes pitcher plants. Nepenthe...
09/17/2026

The greenhouse is home to multiple types of carnivorous plants. One such plant is our Nepenthes pitcher plants. Nepenthes are carnivorous vines whose leaves grow a long tendril that develop into a hollow tube also called a pitcher. The pitchers lure insects to the plant with their bright colors and glands, located under the pitcher’s slippery lid, that secrete sweet nectar. Once inside the pitcher, insects are unable to escape because of the downward pointing hairs that line the pitcher and the digestive fluids that fill it. Once trapped, digestive enzymes break the insects down to obtain nutrients for the plant. Nepenthes and other carnivorous plants have adapted to the poor soil where they are naturally found due to their ability to obtain nutrients from the insects that their pitchers trap and digest.

We went from no cacao pods to one and now all three of our trees contain pods! Friday we were able to pollinate some mor...
09/14/2026

We went from no cacao pods to one and now all three of our trees contain pods! Friday we were able to pollinate some more flowers, so fingers crossed we are successful!

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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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