Last few on Earth - Umbrella dracaena

Today is day four of the field course, and we learned about floral rewards to the pollinators, including nectar, pollen, resins, oils, gums, perfumes, floral and ovarian tissue, prey, sex, and shelter.

For this course, we had to conduct a small project related to pollination biology.  So in the afternoon, we were wondering around MBG trying to find topics and plants that interest us.

Inside the Climatron, we came across this precious Dracaena umbraculifera - only 16 individuals left on Earth and none left in the wild.  I am not sure if I should be happy to see it still surviving in here or sad to hear that it is one of the 16 left in this world.

Take care, tree.

 
Saw the lizard again.   Thanks to Google, I now know its name - Red-spotted Giant Day Gecko (Phelsuma madagascariensis grandis) from Madagascar.  According to Wikipedia, they also eat fruits, pollen, and nectar.  Perhaps they can be potential pollinators?

Tonight we had a guest speaker from St. Louis Zoo, Mr. Ed Spevak, curator of invertebrates at the Saint Louis Zoo talking about pollinator conservation and the roles that zoos play, in particular the things St. Louis Zoo does since Mr. Spevak has been there.  Definitely an interesting talk, since I worked in Taipei Zoo before and always interested in conservation of endangered species.