Volunteer Park Conservatory

The Volunteer Park Conservatory is a botanical garden, conservatory, and Seattle landmark located in Seattle, Washington at the north end of Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill.

Made up of 3,426 glass panes fit into a wood and iron framework, this Victorian-style greenhouse structure is modeled on London's Crystal Palace. Inside, the Volunteer Park Conservatory is divided into five display houses: bromeliads, ferns, palms, seasonal, and cacti and succulents.

The conservatory built up its specialty plant collections through donations from individuals. Between its glass ceilings and walls, the conservatory displays thousands of living specimens for public viewing, while thousands of additional specimens are cultivated in the adjacent greenhouses. Four of the conservatory’s five display houses – bromeliad, fern, palm, and cacti and succulents – feature plants from a single plant primarily along with other accent plants. A fifth house, the seasonal house, features different plants based on the season.

The name "bromeliad" refers to plants in the Bromeliaceae family. More than 2,400 bromeliad species grow worldwide. Bromeliads are commonly epiphytes, which grow by attaching themselves to another surface such as a branch or rock. The conservatory’s Bromeliad House features its epiphytes on a special iron display tree holding dozens of different Tillandsia species. The conservatory also displays terrestrial species of the bromeliad family, such as the pineapple (Ananas comosus).

A fern is any plant classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta (also known as Filicophyta), a group composed of roughly 20,000 species. The conservatory's collection features a number of cycads. Other featured plants in the Fern House include a Mexican breadfruit (Monstera deliciosa) and tropical flowers including passionflower (Passiflora sp.) and hibiscus. This house also features bog gardens with a collection of carnivorous plants including Venus fly traps (Dionaea muscipula), sundews (Drosera sp), pitcher plants (Sarracenia sp).

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