Imagine meandering among succulent cacti, smelling a lemon blossom and admiring orchid blossoms... in Hanover. Strange, but true. Hanover's Eden is called Murdough Greenhouse, and can be found at the top of Gilman Hall.
A visit to the greenhouse could involve peering into a pond to see argent and orange koi, a type of fish, and just barely discerning the murky outlines of a large fish named Dude.
The greenhouse also houses aromatic plants; the fragrance of jasmine is overwhelming upon entrance to the Sub-Tropical Bay. (It smells nothing like the perfume.)
The greenhouse's exotic attractions include a plant called Edgeworthia, used for paper production in Nepal.
In the Tropical Bay grows a cacao plant -- the species used to extract cocoa -- which has recently sprouted its first pod.
Exiled to the staircase is a mahogany tree that persists in outgrowing the greenhouse.
Dartmouth's "hint of green," as one visiting gardener said, is addicting.
This "living botanical museum," as the brochure advertises, was initially founded as a teaching and research facility in 1964 by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gordon in memory of his parents.
Relocated to the extensively renovated fifth floor of Gilman in 1999, the greenhouse now houses seven collections.
The temperature in the Tropical Bay is cranked up to accommodate plants native to 80 degree weather, such as the spindly coffee plant, whose beans are ripening into red, and a dwarf banana tree in fruition.
The Sub-Tropical Bay houses a fern collection and a tiny Japanese-style garden.
Xeric (the collection of desert plants) boasts succulents and cacti large and small, including an aggressively growing "climbing onion" and a feathery vine which branches out of a base of stacked lumpy bulbs.
Venus flytraps and other fauna in the Carnivorous Plants Tank feed off of the occasional spider and ladybugs introduced for biological control.
The greenhouse also houses the Research, Aquatic and the Brout Orchid collections.
The Brout Orchid Collection allows the imagination to be taken away to lusty, exotic destinations like Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia and Costa Rica, greenhouse intern Paul Marino '04 said.
The orchid collection is the greenhouse's most recent addition, donated in 1996 by Alan Brout '51.
New Yorker Brout's fascination with orchids began with a houseplant, but his growing collection spurred him to build two greenhouses.
As Brout began retirement preparations, he looked for a home for his award-winning orchid collection and decided on bequeathing his nearly 1,000 plants to his alma mater.
Some of his former plants date back to the 70s, and the greenhouse's caretaker, Lisa Palmer,still calls him to give him updates and tells him when "so-and-so's in bloom."
She is helped by undergraduates, staff and volunteers who "just want to be around green plants."
"I really encourage people to come up, wander around, if you want to, bring your sick plants," she said.
Marino works with such sick plants. He is doing a private research project on Castanea dentata, the Native American chestnut -- a species that almost died out due to chestnut blight.
He has located a type of bacteria, which provides protection against the chestnut blight fungus, and with this he plans to inoculate his infant plants.
Research in the greenhouse "ebbs and flows," Palmer says. "It really varies... we've had tadpoles up here."
The greenhouse receives "big visitor traffic in the winter," Palmer says. Its visitors include the Hanover Garden Club, the Kendall Retirement Community, troops of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and science classes of every level, from "little kids learning about the rainforest to high school bio," Palmer said.
Palmer caters to each group. "I try to focus on what people want when they come," she said.
The Murdough Greenhouse, located on the fifth floor of Gilman Hall, is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and small groups are welcome by appointment.
