The Tropics - A Rainforest Under a 93-Foot Dome
Photo: Burkhard Mucke, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
A stop on Washington DC National Mall Walking Tour, a free self-guided tour.
The tallest room in the Conservatory, long called the Jungle and now The Tropics, is a tropical forest growing under a glass dome 93 feet high. It is kept warm and humid all year, so expect your glasses to fog up.
The plants are arranged to look like an abandoned plantation slowly being reclaimed by rainforest, with palms, figs, banana plants and climbing vines filling the space. Paths wind among them and past small pools.
The best part is upstairs. A raised walkway, or mezzanine, runs high up in the room, putting you level with the treetops so you can see the canopy from inside it. There are stairs and an elevator to reach it.
Next, find the Orchids house and the Medicinal Plants room.
More on Wikipedia: United States Botanic Garden · Tropical rainforest
Stops on this tour
- Washington Monument
- National Museum of African American History and Cu
- National Museum of American History
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
- National Gallery of Art
- United States Capitol
- United States Botanic Garden
- National Museum of the American Indian
- National Air and Space Museum
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- The Smithsonian Institution Building - The Castle
- Freer Gallery of Art
- Jefferson Memorial
- World War II Memorial
- Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- White House Ellipse
- White House
- Lafayette Square