Last weekend, a lot of the interns went into DC. Sometimes we take the metro in, but this time we drove in and parked up the Air and Space Museum, where as Smithsonian connected we can park for free, right next to the National Mall! It was a lovely day, sunny, warm, and a lovely blue sky! 
We walked along the National Mall to reach the national botanic gardens. There were so many plants, which were split into different biomes like desert, tropical, etc. I took so many pictures! This is what happens when several interns at an environmental research center go to what could be called a plant museum.
These two plants are from the desert room. Both can be found in Texas! I forget the name of the plant on the left with those beautiful pink flower, it is from Texas though. The one the right is a prickly pear cactus! The Texas state plant! Apparently its fruit is edible and delicious, in fact it was a main summer fruit for Native Americans. 
After the desert room was the Hawaii room, which was small yet fascinating! Then was a room full of ferns! The picture on the left above is of a baby fern frond just starting to unroll. Plants are so awesome! And the video in the middle (which I hope works!) is me touching a frond of Minosa pudica, the sensitive fern. It is touch sensitive, folding in its leaflets when touched as a defense mechanism. It's not exactly known why it evolved with this mechanism. One explanation is that herbivores would rather eat a non-moving plant, than a more active one, while another explanation is that the quick movement would dislodge insects that could harm the plant.
Next to the inside museum section (the conservatory) is an outside garden (technically the official national garden) with many sections including a mid-Atlantic regional garden, a rose garden, a butterfly garden, the first ladies water garden, and a rain garden.
It was a great place to explore for the afternoon. And look there's an owl mosaic in the entry way of the conservatory! 
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