Arboretum Plant Collections

General Info | Native Plants | Wild Flower Garden
Caroline Black Garden | Connecticut College Campus | Greenhouse

 

Musa nana 'Cavendishii' flowering and fruiting in the Tropical House

The College Greenhouse is used as teaching and research facility for the Connecticut College Botany classes, and is staffed by Arboretum personnel.

Cycad revoluta. in the Tropical House

The greenhouse is 3,000 square feet, including a tropical house with plantings in the ground, a cactus collection, and an area for Botany and Cell Biology experiments. Each spring semester, introductory botany students plant and tend small garden plots of their own design within the greenhouse.

Vanda sp. 'Acanda Farah Tropical Beauty' beside a Dieffenbachia sp.

The Greenhouse was built in 1935 on the south side of New London Hall, replacing a previously existing lean-to greenhouse. Designed by Lord and Burnham, it was built thanks to a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to Dr. George Avery, Botany professor and first Arboretum Director.. In its early years, the basement of the greenhouse was a state-of-the-art growth chamber with humidity, temperature, and lighting controls. This facility was used for early research on plant hormones and growth. The Head house was dedicated in 1975 to the memory of Anthony Francis Nelson.

The flower of Hoya carnosa