On Thursday, we visited the SBU Greenhouse in the basement of the Life Sciences building. This was not my first time visiting the greenhouse since I was there for Worm Lab. The Worm Lab is based in the area that we used microscopes in. When I left the lab in Freshman year, I was sad since I thought I would never see the greenhouse again. I was surprised to learn that the greenhouse is actually open to the public! Not many people know about the greenhouse which is really sad because it’s such an interesting place. It’s like a small NY botanical garden within the school. The NY botanical garden is also one of my favorite places to be, I like to bring my little brother there in the spring! The last time I was at the greenhouse, The fruit trees had not been cut down yet and they were even fruiting. I was able to try a small tangerine that was incredibly sour.
My favorite part of visiting the SBU Greenhouse was the fruit bay! I really enjoyed smelling the different citrus leaves they smelled exactly like when you first peel a tangerine. I also really enjoyed the different facts about plant survival traits. For example, the monstera plant’s holes differ from the banana tree’s brittle leaves but they are both built to withstand strong winds and rain. However, I was a little curious about the greenhouse’s cat, Pumpkin. I think it’s hilarious that the cat is named Pumpkin but she isn’t orange. I collected many plant samples from each room. I learned that the best way to take a leaf from a plant is to take the leaf from where it begins to sprout off of the main stem. I wonder what some of them will look like once they are pressed. I also wonder if the colors and designs will be preserved once they undergo cyanotype. I mostly collected leaves but I did put a small succulent leaf to be pressed. Since succulents have a lot more water content than a regular plant leaf, I wonder how it will come out and if it will fully dry.
