Another week of rambling brings us not to butterflies but the plants they rely upon.  As we have great butterfly diversity, so too do we attempt to have matching diversity in our plant life.  To that end we have over 300 plant species at any given moment inside of Butterfly Rainforest.  That being said, we are always on the look-out for new and unusual plants to enrich the experience.  Right now the exhibit is bursting with clusters of these lovely white flowers, which belongs to a plant called Ginger Bush (Tetradenia riparia).

Native to central and southern Africa, this plant also features aromatic foliage that has a kind of spicy smell that might remind you of a ginger Altoid when you rub it.  It can grow to be a small tree (12 feet!) but will flower even when it is less than a foot tall.  It is easy to grow from cuttings, which is why we have so many.  On the down side, it is a strict winter bloomer and has no tolerance for cold weather, so if anyone is interested in one, I recommend keeping it as a container plant.  In addition, since this is the first time we have had it blooming in the exhibit, the jury is still out on how good of an attractor of butterflies it is.