Explore the biomes
Botanists divide the world into six 'floristic regions,' or regions with distinct and unique plant communities. The Boreal floristic region contains almost all of the Northern Hemisphere, including Minnesota. The other five regions cover most of the Southern Hempishere, and contain plants that are the least like the plants we see growing in Minnesota. At the Conservatory, our goal is to introduce the people of the Boreal floristic region to the plants of the other five regions.
The Conservatory contains four 'biomes' with distinct climates, landscapes, and floras. Each biome highlights biodiversity hot spots around the globe with a special emphasis on habitats within the Paleotropical, Neotropical, South African, Australian, and Antarctic floristic regions. Our four biomes have temperate, tropical, subtropical, and arid conditions, with the corresponding summer and winter temperatures, humidity, light, and access to water.
In addition to the four biomes, the Conservatory contains four teaching and research collection rooms with plants from all over the world. These plants are vital elements of the College of Biological Sciences' course offerings, highlight past and ongoing plant research within the university, and contribute to global biodiversity conservation efforts.
Taken together, the Conservatory's holdings make up one of the region's most biodiverse living plant collections under glass. Special highlights include our Somali plant collection (the only such collection in the region), our Gymnosperm collection (with representatives from each botanical family in the clade), and our orchid and gesneriad collection.
Click here for a full inventory of the Conservatory’s living collection, updated monthly.
