Mizzou Botanic Gardens provide an informal education
Story by Chris Matthews • Photos by Reva Brant

When walking around campus, students might notice small botanical gardens located along the quad or in front of Memorial Union. According to Terri Gray, director of development, the gardens are part of a campus beautification project that began in the 80s and culminated with the botanical gardens in 1999.

Botanic gardens located throughout campus provide students and visitors with an informal education about different plant and tree species, Pete Millier, director of landscape services, said.

Shrub roses outside Cornell Hall. As employees, students and visitors walk through the campus, they can learn about the various flowers, shrubs and tress by reading the signs located near the plants.

White coneflower.

According to Miller, the gardens provide a passive education about plants to people who might not otherwise take an interest in them. He said people may not want to actively study plants, but they can become passively educated by reading the descriptions on the signs sitting in front of the different plant species.

Many of the gardens around campus display plants with medicinal purposes. One such plant is the Foxglove. The Foxglove contains Digitalis, a heart medicine used to slow the heart rate. Millier said botanic gardens have to be more than just attractive to be declared a botanical garden. They must provide some other benefit to mankind.

Botanic gardens are different from other plant gardens because they provide an educational and scientific purpose that makes people more informed about plants. Several of the gardens are used for classes including the Medicinal Plant Garden and the Thomas Jefferson Garden.

The gardens are popular with visitors and students alike. Gray said she has to replenish the botanic garden maps inside Reynolds Alumni Center two times a week. Millier added that the gardens are very popular and thousands of people walk past them every week.

Dwarf Russian sage.

“The Missouri Botanical Gardens would kill to have our attendance records,” Millier said.

The Butterfly Garden is also part of the botanic garden system. Observers can watch butterflies interact with their environment. Many of the butterfly species are common to Missouri.

Although the gardens are located on the MU campus, MU does not financially support them. The gardens are funded through alumni donations and friends of the university, Gray said. MU Landscape Services provides garden upkeep and maintenance.

Gray makes brochures available to visitors who want to take a self-guided tour. The garden also has a website with an interactive map that provides information about different plant species.

To visit the website, students and visitors can log on to the website at http://gardens.missouri.edu/

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