New York Botanical Gardens Presents A WORLD OF PLANTS at Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

Visitors to The New York Botanical Garden this winter can find a refuge from the frigid weather outside with a retreat to the warmth of A World of Plants, a living museum exhibition of trees, flowers, and foliage in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

Through self-guidEd Strolls, use of free audiotours, or participation in docent-led tours of the Conservatory, visitors can encounter many surprises in the largest Victorian-style glasshouse in the country. Harsh winter frost gives way to warm rain forest mists, soaring palm trees, and bright desert landscapes. This eco-tour also allows discovery of aquatics, medicinal plants, unusual species, and the process of evolutionary change.

The period between the Botanical Garden's major seasonal shows, when the climate in the Conservatory is inviting and when the crowds are thinner, is an ideal time for visitors to fully immerse themselves in and take advantage of these rich collections.

Palms and Tropical Rain Forests
The journey of discovery begins in the Palms of the Americas Gallery, the largest collection of New
World palms under glass. Towering palms, cycads, and ferns surround a large pool that reflects the
magnificent and iconic dome of the Conservatory, 90 feet above. A trip to the Garden in winter is also a journey through time, because many plants such as cycads are survivors of great evolutionary changes.

Their leaves are not that different today from the leaves of their ancestors geological ages ago. In the Conservatory's Lowland Tropical Rain Forest Gallery, a re-created Healer's House illustrates how traditional healers use plants to treat human illnesses as well as how ethnobotanists gather and preserve the plants and the healers' knowledge. This ethnobotanical discipline?the study of the relationship between plants and people?not only preserves centuries-old knowledge but also points toward plants that may be useful in pharmacological research, or in the ever-growing market for herbal medicine. Nearby, visitors will discover the cacao tree, the source of chocolate. A skywalk leads up into the taller regions of the rain forest canopy, where one experiences the steady mist that rain forest explorers encounter in the wild.

In the Aquatic Plants and Vines Gallery, lush curtains of tropical vines drape from the arching lattice of the glasshouse roof around an elegant fountain and pool displaying aquatic plants. The Conservatory's aquatic collection - plants adapted to life in the water - includes Cyperus papyrus, the plant used to make some of the earliest paper.

As visitors enter the Upland Tropical Rain Forest Gallery, they will see an encased orchid display
featuring an assortment of exotic specimens from the Garden's spectacular collection. High-elevation plants dangle and weave throughout the gallery, reminiscent of the tree ferns, mosses, relatives of blueberries, ferns, bamboos, and bromeliads one would find in a cloud forest.

Deserts and Carnivorous Plants
The Deserts of the Americas and the Deserts of Africa Galleries house plants such as cacti, agave, boojum trees, euphorbias, aloes, and "living stones" or Lithops that have adapted to dry and challenging climates. Many of the desert plants on display in raised beds are succulents, the collective name for the thick-fleshed species designed for water storage. The two galleries provide a contrast between the older deserts of Africa, Arabia, and Australia-with their undulating plains and vast expanses of sand-and the geologically younger deserts of the Americas, with their mountains, basins, and flats. A display of carnivorous Venus' flytraps and pitcher plants and deliciously fragrant citrus flowers and fruits in the Hanging Baskets Gallery concludes the educational and enticing trek through A World of Plants.

Other Attractions Both Indoors and Out
Another indoor exhibition at The New York Botanical Garden is located in the Library Building in the Britton Science Rotunda and Gallery. Plants and Fungi: Ten Current Research Stories offers a peek at some of the mysteries of the plant world that are being unraveled by Garden scientists through their field trips around the globe. Since the 1890s, scientists at the Garden have traveled far and wide to better understand plants and fungi, their relationship to their environments, and their many uses by people around the world. Visitors can get a glimpse of their valuable work through this exhibition. Photographs, diagrams, unusual plant specimens, artifacts from explorations in remote locales, and audio/visual presentations bring to life ten current research projects, from the study of mosses and lichens to Brazil nuts and vanilla orchids. The displays and presentations reveal how they use modern tools such as DNA fingerprinting as well as
classic techniques of plant exploration, and how they are studying topics like genetic diversity in rice and a nerve toxin in cycads that may provide insight into Alzheimer's disease.

In the Arthur and Janet Ross Gallery, The Presence of Trees: An Exhibition of Photography by Larry
Lederman showcases poetic images that were mainly taken at The New York Botanical Garden and in Westchester County. The photos take a fresh look at trees in the landscape and reveal their beauty and structure during all seasons.

For intrepid lovers of winter, outdoor attractions abound. A Tram Tour takes visitors around the Garden's 250 acres of historic landscapes, including the 50-acre Native Forest and collections where tree specimens from around the world are grown. The Arthur and Janet Ross Conifer Arboretum, 40 acres surrounding the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, exhibits 250 specimens of the world's temperate pines, spruces, and firs as they live in the wild. This collection, the first ever planted in the Garden, is more than 100 years old. The Benenson Ornamental Conifers, 15 acres in the southeastern corner of the Garden, is a collection of more than 400 hybrids and horticultural selections of conifers, including some of the world's rarest dwarf, weeping, and unusual forms of conifers.

From January 18 through February 5, younger visitors can enjoy Winter Fun in the Everett Children's Adventure Garden. They can participate in hands-on activities, interactive lessons, and crafts projects. Children and their families can use their senses and creativity as well as basic scientific tools to explore the vitAl Sparks of life that lie just below the surface of this cold and quiet season.

Adult Continuing Education classes provide opportunities to start a new career or hobby in botanical art and illustration, botany, floral design, gardening, horticultural therapy, horticulture, and landscape design.

Shop in the Garden offers a wide assortment of items for sale for garden enthusiasts and nature lovers.

Two cafes present a menu of entrees, sandwiches, soups, desserts, and beverages. No matter what the weather is like outside, there is plenty to see and do at The New York Botanical Garden.

For more information, visit www.nybg.org or call 718.817.8700.

The New York Botanical Garden is a museum of plants located at Bronx River Parkway (Exit 7W) and Fordham Road. It is easy to reach by Metro-North Railroad or subway. The Botanical Garden is open year-round, Tuesday through Sunday and Monday federal holidays. The Garden is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from January 11 through February 26, 2010. The best way to enjoy the Garden is with the All-Garden Pass, which includes admission to the grounds as well as to seasonal gardens, exhibitions, and attractions such as the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Everett Children's Adventure Garden, and Tram Tour: $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students with ID, $8 for children ages 2-12, children under 2 are free. A Grounds-Only Pass is available: $6 for adults, $5 for adult Bronx Residents; $3 for seniors, $2 for students with ID, $1 for children ages 2-12, children under 2 are free. Grounds-only admission is free all day on Wednesdays and from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

For more information, please call 718.817.8700 or visit www.nybg.org 

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