The desert environment, unfamiliar to the Midwest, provides a counterpoint to the humidity of the Tropic room. Extremely dry air and wide temperature shifts push plant adaptation to its limits.

Search out plants whose leaves have evolved into thorns and plants whose thick green stems carry out photosynthesis. Our exhibits of three main groups of cacti—cereus,
optunia and pereskia—fascinate children and adults alike.

Our distinctive collection of desert plants also features a fine display of other succulents including haworthia, kalanchoe, gasteria, crassula and succulent euphorbias.

Don’t leave this room before seeing the Agaves or “Century Plants” which grow for 25 to 30 years before sending up their tall flower stalk. Look for the secluded oasis pond on the edge of the desert surrounded by olive, Etrog, fig, date palm, bay, and pomegranate.

And, meet the plants that EAT... insects. Visit our Curiosity Corner with its Venus Fly Traps, Pitcher Plants and Sun Dews.