U.S. Botanic Garden

07/10/2025

Giant banana (Musa ingens) is the world's
largest herbaceous plant. It grows wild in high-altitude forests of New Guinea, reaching 50 feet or more in height with leaves that can be three feet wide. Its seeded fruit is rarely eaten by humans.

07/09/2025

Tropical Forests — Essential for life! More than half of all plant and animal species live in tropical forests clustered near the equator where the air is warm and the sun intense. Not all tropical forests are rainforests. Rain falls year-round in rainforests, while in tropical dry forests seasons of rain come and go. This room features plants from rainforests and tropical dry forests. Forests significantly impact our climate by releasing oxygen, cycling water, and sequestering carbon. Forest destruction contributes to climate change. Notice dense, layered foliage. Many tropical forest plants live under a canopy of tall trees, seeking sunlight, nutrients, and space to grow.

07/08/2025

Look amongst the foliage and you might spy the vibrant blooms of Indonesian wax ginger (Tapeinochilos ananassae) in our Tropics house.
It is native to Australia (Queensland), New Cuinea, and Moluccas.

07/07/2025

Bulbophyllum echinolabium — Some orchids masquerade as dead animals to attract pollinators. The red meat color of Bulbophyllum flowers and their rancid smell attract flies and other insects that feed on rotting flesh.

07/06/2025

What Are Cycads? Cycads were one of the earliest seed plants to colonize dry land some 300 million years ago. During the Jurassic, cycads were widespread. Plant-eating dinosaurs dined on fleshy cones, spreading undigested seeds in their p**p.
Today, most surviving cycads are palmlike trees or shrubs with a crown of stiff leaves. Cycads are either male or female, but they can also switch their s*x. Shown here is Encephalartos longifolius.

07/05/2025

Explore the Jurassic Plants of an ancient world! Lush green landscapes across the continents. Rising seas and warm, tropical climates. Our planet looked very different in the Jurassic Period, 145-201 million years ago. Conifers, cycads, and ferns flourished. Giant dinosaurs browsed the treetops while smaller ones feasted on low-lying plants. Many modern relatives of prehistoric plants survive today. Conifers flourish mainly in the northern hemisphere. Cycads are largely tropical, and most ferns thrive in damp places. Find living descendants of many of these Jurassic plants in our Primeval Garden!

07/04/2025

Happy Independence Day! These daylilies (Hemerocallis ‘Ruby Star’) remind us of fireworks — they are definitely beautiful pops of color in the Garden! We’re open 11 am - 6 pm today. Come find colorful blooms throughout the Garden! Free, no tickets required.

07/03/2025

Echinacea purpurea ‘Ruby Star’ has looked beautiful all through the summer heat! E. purpurea is native to central and southeastern United States, it blooms all summer long and is popular with butterflies and birds. ‘Ruby Star’ grows 2-3 feet tall and features coneflowers up to 4 inches in diameter. It is USDA winter hardy zones 3-8, full sun to part shade.

07/01/2025

The plants of the U.S. Botanic Garden provide habitat for all sorts of wildlife. More than 130 bird species have been recorded in the Garden to date. These birds are an important part of the garden and are great indicators of its health and ecological role. We often think of plants as useful only to humans, but they also provide habitat and food sources for wildlife.

06/30/2025

Although it’s not “their season” yet (that’s late summer), we’re excited to see fruits developing on our pawpaw (Asimina triloba) trees. The fruit is the largest fruit native to the United States. The custard-like consistency carries a somewhat tropical flavor profile, with some likening it to a cross between apples, bananas, and pineapples (and more)! What flavors do you taste in pawpaw?

06/30/2025

Join us July 17, August 21, and Sept. 18 for summer evening hours. We’ll be open until 8 pm those dates with live music, drinks and frozen treats for sale, and golden hour among our global garden of plants! Free, no tickets required.

Devin Dotson, Senior Communications Specialist at the U.S. Botanic Garden tells us about their Summer Evening Series.

06/26/2025

Usually grown as a houseplant with beautiful patterned leaves, this pinstripe Geoppertia ornata plant (formerly Calathea ornata) is sporting a beautiful bloom! The foliage of the plant in bloom has lost its pattern in maturity. We’ve noticed the pinstripes on the foliage of the other G. ornata specimen in the Tropics house fading as it grows. A this third specimen we are growing still has vivid pink pinstripes. They all are purple on the abaxial side (“backside”) of the leaf.