Plant of the Day: Upland Cotton – Gossypium hirsutum

There were lots of people in the Conservatory this morning, probably because of this weekend’s start of the Winter Flower Show.  The warmth of the Palm Dome and North Garden was nice to feel when the outside temperature is approximately 20 degrees Farenheit.

Dutchman's Pipe

At the entrance of the North Garden, I was sad to see that almost all of the jackfruit and all of the starfruit is gone.  However, I enjoyed seeing the colorful orchids placed throughout the NG. The flower on the Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia spp) was particularly showy.

The cacao pods were still there but did not look like they’ve grown much since I was here two weeks ago.  I pointed them out to numerous visitors who were very excited to see them.  After they mature and fall off the plant, these pods will be composted – the fate of all maturing/dying plant matter from the conservatory. 

Gossypium hirsutum

I always like to look at the cotton plant.  Early this summer, the blooms on this plant were really beautiful.  I am from Louisiana and remember seeing fields of cotton when I was a child, so this plant reminds me of home.

Cotton is a very important plant for our society.  From this plant, we get the materials to make thread and other textile products.  Most interesting, perhaps, are the lesser well-known purposes of this plant.  Cotton seeds can be pressed for oil that is subsequently used in margarine, cooking and soap.  The leftovers from pressing the seeds can be fed to livestock or spread on crops as a fertilize.  Leftover fuzz from the ginning process can be used to make twine, carpet, lacquer and plastics.  The cotton flowers have been consumed as a diretic.  The seeds and roots have been used for medicinal purposes to fight cancer.  There are other uses of the cotton plant that I won’t go into, but if you’re interested, there are a variety of websites and books available with more information.

Plant of the day - Cacao Tree - Theobroma cacao

Before going through the Fern Room and into the North Garden, I stopped to look through the John and Ruth Huss Orchid Viewing Area located just outside of the Fern Room entrance.

The horticulture staff places currently blooming orchids in this corner of the orchid growing greenhouse for the public to see.  Among today's orchids, there was a beautiful Cischweinfia sheehaniae orchid.  Unfortunately, my camera did not adequately capture the beauty of these tiny but beautiful flowers.

Today, although not excessively hot, the air was quite humid in the North Garden (NG). I was greeted at the entrance of the NG with a beautiful flower high up on the Ethiopian Banana plant.  This is just one of many spectacular sights missed by many visitors that don't look up when they walk around the conservatory.

Fruits can still be seen on multiple plants including the jackfruit, the calamondin orange tree and the Barbados cherry tree. I'm pleasantly surprised to find several cacao pods on the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao).  The word cacao is derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec language) word cacahuatl.






Some interesting facts about cacao:

Cacao beans were used both for making drinks and as a major currency in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures.  The buying power of quality cacao beans was quite strong. In some areas like the Yucatan, cacao beans are thought to have been used as currency as late as the 1840s.

From www.worldcocoafoundation.org:

• Number of cocoa farmers, worldwide: 5-6 million
• Number of people who depend upon cocoa for their livelihood, worldwide: 40-50 million
• Annual cocoa production, worldwide: 3 million tons
• Annual increase in demand for cocoa: 3 percent per year, for the past 100 years
• Current global market value of annual cocoa crop: $5.1 billion
• Cocoa growing regions: Africa, Asia, Central America, South America (all within 20 degrees of the equator)
• Percentage of cocoa that comes from West Africa: 70 percent
• Length of time required for a cocoa tree to produce its first beans (pods): five years

For more information:

http://dfenick-cacaotree.yolasite.com/scientific-description.php
http://www.xocoatl.org/tree.htm
http://mgonline.com/articles/chocolate.aspx
http://chocolatetreebooks.com/choccycare.html
http://www.cacaoweb.net/cocoa-chocolate.html

Plant of the day - Black Pepper - Piper nigrum

What a beautiful Columbus Day today!  The outside temperature is approximately 68 degrees (F).  A few of the windows in the North Garden are cracked open. The ceiling fans are on high.  The temperature and humidity feel lower than normal.

Not too many visitors this morning.  The number of visitors in the fall is noticeably lower than is experienced over the summer.  Today, I spoke at length with a nice gentleman about the harvesting of peppercorns (Piper nigrum).  He was surprised to learn that red, white and black peppercorns all start as berries from the flowers on the same plant.

Peppercorn color varies depending on harvest date.  In general, unripe green berries are picked then pickled (halting the fermentation process). Green peppercorns have the mildest taste of the peppercorns because they are picked the earliest.  Black peppercorns are picked early like green peppercorns, but are then fermented which turns them black.  White peppercorns are picked when the berries are ripe, but are then soaked and hulled giving the white peppercorns a milder taste than their black counterparts.s

Unfortunately, there are no peppercorns for visitors to see on these peppercorn plants due to the lack of pollinators in the North Garden.  However, the plant itself is very invasive and visitors can see that it is heartily growing all around the ground areas.

While walking around today, I also noticed some unusual behavior in the koi. Several of the koi kept leaping up on to the base of an aquatic plant located in their pool. Several of us watching thought that this behavior might be an indication that these fish have not been fed today. I alerted a staff member with the hope that they would be fed. Interestingly, she reported that the koi had been fed early that morning.

The cherry tree in the back corner still has the cherry growing up on a branch.  I will be interested to see if there are more on my next shift.

Plant of the day - Barbados Cherry - Malpighia glabra

Today, visitors were treated with the strategic placement of award-winning orchids throughout the North Garden as well as in other areas of the Conservatory.  These beautiful flowering plants are both magical in their appearance and of incredible wonder in their creation and existence!

In human communities, in addition to their aesthetic and aromatic qualities, orchids are important economically in many parts of the world.  In addition to activities involved in the buying and selling of orchids (producing, transportation, selling), orchid shows benefit tourism spending.  The vanilla orchid is the most economically important orchid in the world.

In the early, cooler hour of the morning, I took a stroll in the Japanese garden.  The quiet and serene feeling comes very quickly and stays for the entire length of the walk through the garden.  I talked to an interesting visitor who had just retired.  He and his wife are spending much of their summer revamping their backyard garden.  He wants to put a Japanese garden in his backyard but does not know how he would be able to get large boulders situated around his yard.  We discussed the various pros and cons to the work that might be involved in creating a Japanese garden.

Back in the North Garden, fall colors seem to be appearing on a few of the trees.  Soon, the Conservatory staff will close the windows and will heat the inside enough to maintain a tropic environment.  

In my meanders around the plants I scored a new find today - the Barbados cherry tree has produced a cherry!  The Barbados cherry is known to have the ability to produce seedless fruit without pollination.

The Barbados cherry is high in vitamin C and is eaten fresh, or, in some countries made into jam and sauce.  It is made into juices extensively through Latin America.  These fruits freeze well without losing the high vitamin C content.  It has been used for medicinal purposes to treat coughs, sore throats, diarrhea, dysentery and liver ailments.

For more information:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/barbados_cherry.html
http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plant_details.php?plantid=7316
http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/News%20columns/Barbados.Cherry.htm

On my way home, I took a stroll through the sunken garden.  I could smell the sweet aromas coming from the sunken garden well before I reached the entrance.  The fragrances from that room are absolutely heavenly!  The flowers are a treat to the eyes.  What a sweet way to end my volunteer shift!

Plant of the Day - Air Potatoes - Dioscorea bulbifera

Today, I was excited to discover some tuber-like structures that are growing on a vine, high in the air, behind several tall plants.  They looked like a clump of small potatoes growing in a bunch.  I identified these as "air potatoes" growing on the air potato plant in the very back of the North Garden.

The air potato plant is a vine which is actually part of the yam family.  It is very invasive and has to be trimmed back often. The vine will consume other vegetation and can destroy vegetation in its path.  The underground tubers are the useful and edible portion of this plant and the reason that this plant is cultivated.

Other fruit that I've seen today in the North Garden includes the jackfruit, calamondin oranges, Mexican cream guava and the noni.

Calamondin Orange

Noni

Jackfruit

Guava

Welcome to my Blog

Ethnobotany - from "ethnology" - the study of culture, and, "botany" - the study of plants.

Ethnobotany is the study of relationships between human communities and plants.  How do plant species and plant communities support human populations, ultimately contributing valuable support and enrichment to the lives of countless people?

Ethnobotanists work to analyze and document complex interactions between people and their myriad uses of plants including those used as foods, in medicines, cosmetics, textiles and construction.

This is my blog about the ethnobotanical plant community in the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory North Garden.  This community represents a variety of plants that are physically and economically useful to human communities around the planet.  

This year (2011), I became a volunteer in this garden, 3 hours every other Monday.  To the best of my ability, I will interact with visitors and provide information relating to the plants in this collection.

Every day that I am able to volunteer, I will be writing a blog entry describing some of the plants in this particular conservatory room and some of my volunteer experiences of the day.  I will also be adding links and other information related to one or more of the plants.

Over time, as I better fit the update and maintenance of this blog into my schedule, I will be able to write additional information in greater detail about the plants along with links and references for the readers to find more information outside of this blog.

Peace to all.
Mary.