The Williams Conservatory is located in
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie () is a List of municipalities in Wyoming, city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States, known for its high elevation at , for its railroad history, and as the home of the University of Wyoming. The population wa ...
at the campus of the
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...
. It opened in 1994. The main greenhouse is filled with exotic plants from various climates and
biome
A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...
s. The Conservatory is open daily for public and it receives hundreds of visitors each year.
[About the Conservatory](_blank)
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...
History
The Williams Conservatory was built in 1994. It was funded by private donations from Louis O. and Terua P. Williams and grant from the
National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
to support maintenance and research.
Founders
Prior to funding new greenhouse for Conservatory
Louis O. and Terua P. Williams has been supporters of the University of Wyoming Botany Department for many years. Couple first met in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre Range, Gros Ventre and Teton Range, Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, Wyoming, T ...
where Terua was a school teacher and Louis was a young
botanist
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
. Louis earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Wyoming under the guidance of Aven Nelson. Louis worked on his
Ph.D. thesis at
Washington State University
Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...
, and upon receiving Ph.D., worked at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, the
Pan-American School of Agriculture in
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
, and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...
. From 1964 until his retirement in 1973 Louis was a department chair for the
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...
in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Through his career for many years Louis was also the editor of the
American Orchid Society
The American Orchid Society (AOS) is a horticultural society for education, conservation, and research of orchids. It was founded in 1921, and has an international membership. It is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. It has been called an "indus ...
Bulletin. To acknowledge generous support from Louis and Terua Williams to new Conservatory, the University of Wyoming named the conservatory in their honor.
is also named in honor of
Louis Otho Williams
Louis Otho (Otto) Williams (1908 – 1991) was a botanist from Wyoming. He received his BA and MA from the University of Wyoming then a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. He went on to be editor of the '' American Orchid Society Bulletin ...
.
Collections
The Williams Conservatory collection presents several hundreds of plants from 76
plant families
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars fro ...
. Most resent accusations include ''Black Bat Flower'' (
Tacca chantrieri
The genus ''Tacca'', which includes the batflowers and arrowroot, consists of flowering plants in the order Dioscoreales, native to tropical regions of South America, Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, and various Oceania, Oceanic islands. In o ...
), a ''Pelican Flower'' (
Aristolochia gigantea), a ''Hanging Lobster Claw'' plants (
Heliconia rostrata
''Heliconia rostrata'', the hanging lobster claw or false bird of paradise, is a herbaceous perennial plant native to El Salvador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Ecuador, and naturalized in Puerto Rico. It is found in tropica ...
), and notorious for it
odor
An odor (American English) or odour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive ...
''Corpse Flower'' (
Amorphophallus titanum
The titan arum (''Amorphophallus titanum'') is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has a large unbranched inflorescence; a tall single leaf, branched like a tree; and a heavy tuber which enables the plant to produce the inflorescence. ' ...
), which bloom years apart.
The Williams Conservatory Plant Collection
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...
See also
* List of botanical gardens and arboretums in Wyoming
* Louis Otho Williams
Louis Otho (Otto) Williams (1908 – 1991) was a botanist from Wyoming. He received his BA and MA from the University of Wyoming then a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. He went on to be editor of the '' American Orchid Society Bulletin ...
References
Buildings and structures in Laramie, Wyoming
Greenhouses in the United States
Agricultural buildings and structures in Wyoming
1994 establishments in Wyoming
Botanical gardens in Wyoming
Protected areas of Albany County, Wyoming
Tourist attractions in Laramie, Wyoming
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