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Tour for friends, and potting grass seeds for classroom work

My husband T... joined me for the drive to the greenhouse this morning. There, we met up with his friend from work-days, D.., for a tour of the greenhouse. The tour began with an introductions to the staff. I brought them first to the farthest end of the greenhouse, room C4, where the desert plants are housed. In particular, I highlighted the Welwitschia mirabilis from Namibia, and then pointed out the differences and similarities between euphorbias and cacti. I also showed them plants intermediate between those with leaves, and those with only needles. The intermediate plants have both needles and leaves. We talked about convergent evolution where euphorbias from Africa and cacti from South America followed similar adaptations (intermediate forms with both needles and leaves) although their genetic groups are completely different.
Vanilla vine in room C2


We then toured the Temperate forest room, C3. This room houses examples of many of the plants and trees with which we are familiar. I highlighted the carnivorous plants in the water tanks. We also talked about the cycad plants and their history.

Next, we toured the Rainforest collection in room C2. T and D were very impressed with the range of plant forms and the beautiful blossoms on many of the plants. I highlighted some of the air plants (Tillandsia) orchids and the vanilla plants.

In Room C1 we toured the Antarctic Forest plants, highlighted by the Brighamia plant from Hawaii.
 Finally, we toured the Display rooms D4 through D1. I pointed out the stone plants (lithops and pseudolithos) in D4, the eucalyptus in D3, the tropical plants in D2, and some of the plants in D1 from which I scrubbed sooty mold.

After T and D left to find coffee at the Student Union, A had a project for me. She asked me to prepare seedling trays for a student lab. The lab was working on plant genetics, they needed roots which were used to provide cells and genetic material. Each tray has 120 cells, which I filled partially with a 50:50 mix of perlite and vermiculite. Then, into each cell I placed one or two seeds of wheat (Triticum). Each of the 3 species of Triticum has different ploidy:  Triticum aestivum (ploidy=6x), T. dicoccum (ploidy=4x), T. monococcum (ploidy=2x). It was important to prevent mixing seeds on different trays, each tray was to have only one species of wheat. I worked with only one open bag of seeds at a time so there could be no chance of cross contamination.

I carefully labeled each tray as directed by a document given to me by A, it exhibited in pictures the proper format for plant labels.

After placing the seeds, I completely filled the tray cells with a final layer of perlite/vermiculite mix. Finally, A showed me her method for watering and storing the trays for plant growth. She brought me into room C4. She placed the trays on the floor underneath a bench near a hose. watered the trays using a gentle shower spay so as not to disturb the soil mix. We left the trays on the floor to begin the germination process.

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