The conservatory is home to several hundred plants and many different species and families. Almost all come from tropical regions from around the world, making it feel, at times, like being in some faraway rainforest.

A fogging unit helps keeps humidity levels up and activates every half hour.

Visitors who look closely can spot tropical fruits like strawberry guavas, passion fruit and bananas, like the unripe hand captured here.

None of the fruit in the conservatory is edible, including this strawberry guava.

The conservatory is home to four kinds of passion fruit, including this one known as the "Lavender Lady."

Also visible are plants, vines and grasses like sugar cane, begonias, orange jasmine, yet-to-bud voodoo lilies from Yunnan in China, which produce a rotten flesh odor, and (pictured here) beehive gingers from Costa Rica.

Flowering in July were bromeliads from Brazil, a colorful sharp-looking flower made up of different shades of purple, pink and violet.

Nearby are the conservatory’s collection of cactuses. Careful, some are sharp.

Close to the fogger — though not a cactus — is a sandbox tree. It’s easy to spot why this tree, native to the Caribbean, earned the moniker “monkey no climb.”

Keeping the conservatory and the other greenhouses running is a constant endeavor for staff who oversee care of the plants and facilities. Plants need to be watered by hand every day, and greenhouse pests, like insects or pathogens, need to be controlled, said Nicholas Vasques, the research greenhouse manager who is pictured here.

The effort is worth it. “Some people come here and take naps,” Kartzinel said. “Some people study here or have meetings. Some people come around and just take pictures and then leave. That's all fine. I feel like they're appreciating the plants just for being here just like we do.”