An afternoon in St. Louis

From: StellrJ at aol.com on 2002.02.13 at 15:49:53(8199) Hi, This weekend past, I was in St. Louis, to interview with Wash U faculty about getting into their Ph.D. program. I met with Dr. Croat at MoBot (who appeared to have a fungal infection in the middle finger of his left hand), and we discussed my interests relative to his. I also got to see the research greenhouses at MoBot, particularly Dr. Croat's aroids. The Wall (of climbing aroids) was very impressive. I was particularly intriued by his collection of Stenospermation -- more so after he said that almost nothing is known of this genus, either its systematics or its ecology. I also saw some of the more public parts of MoBot, including the Climatron. As one who has traveled in the tropics, I can say the Climatron is very well done for its purpose; I almost felt I was really in the tropics again. The heat and humidity filled my whole body with a healthy feeling, in contrast to the faint cold/allergy feeling I had outside. The next day, I went to the St. Louis Zoo. Inside the Primate House was an attractive garden including a number of aroid species, with a species of birds-nest Anthurium in flower, and some nice specimens of the "Kris Plant" Alocasia. I hope to go back to school come fall, and Wash U is definitely high on my preferences list. Jason Hernandez +More Naturalist-at-Large

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