Cultivaria explores the role of human care, experimentation, and cultivation in shaping plant growth and diversity.
This room serves as a working instructional space, providing living plant material used in courses, projects, and instructional displays to support propagation, research, and teaching. Plants here illustrate growth, regeneration, and variation under cultivation, allowing students to observe life cycles, test propagation techniques, and explore evolutionary relationships in an active learning environment.
Throughout the year, Cultivaria functions as a flexible instructional space that adapts to seasonal teaching needs. During periods of intensive instruction, the room is reconfigured with curated displays representing major plant lineages, enabling hands‑on exploration of evolutionary transitions from early land plants to flowering plants. At other times, it returns to its primary role supporting staff‑led propagation, experimental projects, and maintenance of greenhouse and Science Garden collections.
Cultivaria highlights how intentional care, experimentation, and inquiry contribute to understanding and sustaining plant diversity. By connecting cultivation practices with biological principles, this space emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between plants and the people who study, grow, and steward them.
Key Themes
- Propagation
- Experimentation
- Plant growth
- Human–plant relationships
- Research support
- Evolutionary transitions
Students examine living plant specimens in the Cultivaria room while studying plant evolution.
(Photo Credits: Greenhouse Staff)