Naturalist Trip - University of Washington Biology Greenhouse

Our group will meet at 12:45pm inside the southwestern entryway of the UW Life Sciences Building on Friday, Feb 23rd. The Greenhouse is located in the Lower level/southwest side of the Life Sciences Building, at 3747 W Stevens Way NE. Map of the campus location.

There are several bus routes that stop nearby on Pacific Ave and Stevens Way. If you are driving, there is sometimes on-street pay station parking South of 15^th & Pacific St., towards the waterfront ~ 2 blocks from the Greenhouse or see this link for more information on campus visitor parking lots. 

This trip will be guided by a docent from the greenhouse. They'll guide us through a wide variety of plant collections, each with their own fascinating (and sometimes bizarre!) set of adaptations for coping with environmental conditions.

One of my favorite plants in the greenhouse is Synsepalum dulcificum, aka miracle berry.  Its known for its berry that, when eaten, causes sour foods (such as lemons and limes) subsequently consumed to taste sweet.  I will bring miracle berry candies for the group to try as well as lemons and limes. Feel free to bring some other sour foods to try. Here's a list of recommended foods to bring: https://mymberry.com.au/miracle/foods

For a preview of the plant collections, check out these sources:

• The Greenhouse's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uwbiogreenhouse/
• The UW's greenhouse website: https://www.biology.washington.edu/facilities/greenhouse
• An article on Geekwire about the tech upgrades in the new greenhouse: https://www.geekwire.com/2022/inside-the-univ-of-washingtons-new-greenhouse-where-a-tech-upgrade-keeps-the-6000-plants-happy/